Sunflowers are one of those happy plants many gardeners can’t resist planting. Kids love to watch the plants reach for the sky and everyone enjoys all the visitors. You are likely to see hummingbirds, bees and other pollinators on the flowers, songbirds munching on the seeds, and squirrels practicing acrobatic contortions as they try to gain their fair share of the harvest.

What we call the flower is made of 1,000-2,000 individual flowers . The large petals are, in fact, infertile ray flowers that do not develop into seeds. The center consists of fertile disk flowers that develop into seeds after pollination occurs.

These versatile flowers tolerate a wide range of soils around the world and are drought tolerant. It is not surprising they have been used by people for more than four tho

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