There are so many different ways to market and sell sunflowers.  This past Fall we decided to grow them to sell by the stem or pick-your-own at our retail stand along with pumpkins, gourds, and Indian corn. One of the best things about these flowers is that they were visible from the main road near the stand and so it attracted more customers to our stand when they saw this pumpkin field with beautiful sunflowers in it.  One of my good friends sells her flowers at the local farmers markets and has a lot of success.

Sunflowers are a very popular cut flower and have potential to add diversity to any market grower’s product mix.  We started growing a few last Fall for our seasonal retail stand to add diversity to our pumpkin patch.  There are many different options when looking at selecting varieties to grow.  There are differences in single stem or branching, pollen or pollenless, stem strength, blooms per plant, bloom size, days to bloom, color, day-neutral or not, and climate considerations. 

A snack at the ball park on a sunny day, as a topping on a fresh salad, or packed away in your lunchbox for an afternoon snack, sunflower seeds are versatile and tasty.  You can find them at any grocery store, but there is something special about being able to grow and roast your own sunflower seeds!