Sunflower!

While the vibrant, strong sunflower is a recognized worldwide for its beauty, it is also an important source of food. Sunflower oil is a valued and healthy vegetable oil and sunflower seeds are enjoyed as a healthy, tasty snack and nutritious ingredient to many foods.

Sunflower is an important agricultural crop choice for US producers in the northern plains of the Dakotas to the panhandle of Texas. RWhile often admired as simply lovely garden ornamentals, sunflowers actually have an amazing variety of uses.

In addition to brightening up your garden, sunflowers make a good dried food for poultry and livestock, bright dyes come from their petals, and paper can be made from the stalk pith. On top of that, sunflower seeds and seed meal feed countless people, animals, and birds. Sunflower seed-oil is used in cooking and in soaps and cosmetics. In the garden, you can grow sunflowers not only as beautiful aesthetic additions, but as windbreaks, privacy screens, or living supports for pole beans. Did You know: The scientific name Helianthus-from the Greek Helios meaning sun anthos meaning flower- also means sunflower.