How can i plant sunflowers that were bought in a flower store? there's no seeds yet, not sure if there will be

Question

I have 4 sunflowers that i got from the flower department of publix. (grocery store). I'm trying to figure out if i can plant them in my yard or if i can bury them and new plants will grow? They dont have any seeds in the middle yet, and im not sure if any seeds will form. any help will be welcome!

Answer 1

Probably hybrids & would be sterile. You should see the seeds if the flowers are opened fully.

Answer 2

Flowers have to be pollinated by bees or something to get fertile seeds so the chances are slim that your sunflowers will get seeds as they were probably grown in a greenhouse and didn't get pollinated. Also they have to be on the plant to continue the maturation process. Sorry to bring bad news. Your gonna have to buy some seeds or ask someone that has some growing in their yard.

Answer 3

If you've just bought cut flowers then it's unlikely that you'll manage to get them to live once the flowers die.   If they are rooted in pots, give them a good sunny location, add some rotted compost to the hole,  and give them a stake to keep them from blowing over in winds etc.

Seed production needs generally for your flowers to be pollinated by insects, such as bees.  The seed development takes a few weeks, which is generally longer than cut flowers will last, as they'll usually decay, and not manage to photosynthesise or get the nutrients to develop the seeds, even if they were pollinated.

Some of the modern hybrids are also bred not to produce pollen or seeds,  thus stopping the public from reproducing them (thus having to buy some new seeds each year).

So your best bet is to buy some fresh seeds of the type of sunflowers that you most want next spring time.  They now come in a huge range of colours and heights, so it's possible to have them give you a stunning varied display for months on end.   There's a dwarf type here: http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/p...

Mixed pastel colours here: http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/p... and 10 feet tall yellow ones here:  http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/p...

Hope these varied sunflowers give you some ideas for next year, I'm sorry if it's not the news you needed ref. your flowers this year.  

Hope this helps.  Good luck!  Rob