Want to see something crazy? This sunflower is growing at the southern edge of one of our newest raised beds. It shares the bed with our corn crop ('Peaches & Cream'). The corn stalks are between 6 and 7 feet tall, which gives you an idea of how tall the sunflower is! I'd guess it's about 11 feet in height. A friend who was visiting yesterday told me I should enter it in the fair but I think we'll just enjoy it for now and save the flower heads for our bird friends. You can click on the photo to view a larger, more detailed image.
I got the seeds from Renee's Garden and the variety is 'Heirloom Titan.' According to the seed packet, the "handsome, strong plants reach up 12 to 14 feet tall to follow the sun." So I guess it's only just getting started! I direct-sowed the seeds in a few beds throughout our garden in May, once the danger of frost was past.
Oh, and in case you're wondering what my sunflower-growing secret is, I don't really have one. We did put a lot of good stuff into our new raised beds -- compost, decomposing leaves and a bit of soil from our other raised beds -- but that's all I can attribute it to... other than the seed's good genetics, of course.
