Those are beautiful, Wally. What a diverse selection! I get the same high-desert variety every year here in Albuquerque. I've tried growing all the various colors and sizes, but they never thrive. These just come up every spring and I pull them out where I don't want them. I always leave one or two in the salad greens bed to provide necessary shade as the weather heats up. I also save some of the stalks for use as plant stakes the next year. My favorite part is late summer when the yellow finches arrive en masse to gorge on the seeds.
Last summer they went bonkers and grew bigger than I've ever seen them. The second one pictured toppled over and I measured it: 14 feet!
This year I had seedlings everywhere--in the pathways, garden beds, between pavers, in pots. I pulled out dozens if not hundreds of babies. Broke my heart but fed the compost bin!
They are common and require no gardening skill, but there's nothing like a sunflower to cheer up the garden!
