Nectar Source - Bees: bumblebees, Miner bees, large Leaf-cutting bees, Cuckoo bees, Green Metallic bees, and other Halictid bees. Occasionally other insects visit this plant including bee flies and butterflies.
Host Plant -For the caterpillars of the butterfly - Silvery Checkerspot and Gorgone Checkerspot
Seed - For birds - Finally after three years I have enough Early Sunflower plants in my yard that there is plenty for me to harvest and share with the birds.
Height - 3 to 4 ft Flower Color - Yellow Blooms - August - September Sun - Sun to part sun Hardy Zone - 4 to 9 Soil - Moist to dry Family - Asteraceae
Downy Sunflower Nodding Onion Gardens
Propagation Notes -
Collecting Seed - Songbirds gobble these seeds in a blink of an eye. Use empty onion bags to protect seed. To ensure adequate pollination wait until later in the fall to cover see.
Outside - Collect seed in fall, plant in a protected flat. If the winter is warm and dry check periodically to be sure seed remains moist. Refrigerator Cold Storage - 30 days - Small Zip lock plastic bag with a few table spoons of moistened vermiculite
Seeds Planted - 2-12-2012
Sprouted - 2-25-2012 -
Night Temperature - 61 - 63°F(in house)
Day Temperature - 64 - 65°F -Under florescent lights
Natural Sunlight - 3-6-12 - Exposed a few hours each day to natural sunlight
