Heirlooms

Heirloom sunflowers are traditional varieties which that have been grown through open pollination for many years. Heirloom sunflowers are great to grow because unlike the Hybrid varieties you can harvest the seeds knowing that they’ll create perfect copies of your parent plants for your future generations.

Moonwalker

Moonwalker SunflowersMoonwalker sunflowers are a tall branching variety with multiple large heads and beautiful pale yellow petals with contrasting dark centres. Perfect to go in the back of a border or used for screening.
Colour: Pale Yellow
Height: 5′ – 7′
Flower Heads: 1 – 5

Russian Giant

Sunshine Giant SunflowerThe Russian Giant variety can be found in most garden centres. It is a great variety for children to grow as the germination rate is very high and they grow very fast reaching heights of up to 12 feet tall. They tend to have strong thick stems supporting a large single flower head with yellow petals and dark greeny brown centres.
Colour: Yellow
Height: 8′ – 12′
Flower Heads: 1

Taiyo

Taiyo SunflowerTaiyo is a tall, strong stemmed, single headed Japanese heirloom variety with large chocolate brown centres and short bright yellow petals. Makes great long lasting cut flowers.
Colour: Orange-Yellow
Height: 5′ – 7′
Flower Heads: 1

Velvet Queen

Velvet Queen Sunflowers
The mid-size Velvet Queen sunflower has stunning 6 inch heads that are a deep crimson red in colour. They are a free branching variety with multiple heads and strong stems which don’t tend to grow taller than 6 feet. Great for cut flowers.
Colour: Red
Height: 4′ – 6′
Heads: 1 – 5


Italian White

Italian White Sunflowers
The Italian White mid-size variety which has multiple pale creamy white flower heads and contrasting deep chocolate coloured centres.
Colour: Creamy White
Height: 4′ – 5′
Heads: 1 – 5

Teddy Bear

Teddy Bear Sunflowers
The Teddy Bear is an impressive dwarf variety with golden-yellow double blooms. They look great in containers with their long lasting flowers.
Colour: Golden-Yellow
Height: 1′ – 2′
Heads: 1 – 4

Irish Eyes

Irish Eyes Sunflowers
A great dwarf variety with multiple flowers and long pointed bright yellow petals with green centres. Great for growing in containers at just 2 – 3 feet tall.
Colour: Yellow
Height: 2′ – 3′
Heads: 1 – 4

Music Box

Music Box Sunflowers
Another dwarf variety with colourful multi-headed blooms. The colours range from cream through to yellow with lots of bi-coloured petals with a deep red colour. Great for mass planting in mid-borders or containers.
Colour: Cream / Yellow / Red
Height: 1′ – 2′
Heads: 1 – 5


Sunspot

Sunspot Sunflowers
A traditional short stocky dwarf variety with large yellow heads up to 8 inches wide. They are great for beds, borders and containers and a great choice for windy locations.
Colour: Yellow
Height: 1′ – 2′
Heads: 1

Valentine

Valentine Sunflowers
This is a fantastic mid-size variety with beautiful lemon yellow flower heads with dark centres. They produces multiple heads from a single plant with a staggered bloom time.
Colour: Lemon Yellow
Height: 4′ – 5′
Heads: 4 – 6

Mongolian Giant

Mongolian Giant Sunflowers
Mongolian Giants are true monsters. With seeds up to 1½ inch long the plants reach heights of up to 14 feet tall with huge yellow heads up to 18 inches wide. Renowned for its rapid growth it is a truly impressive beast.
Colour: Yellow
Height: 12′ – 14′
Heads: 1

Titan

Titan Sunflowers
Titan is one of the most reliable giant sunflower varieties available. It has good strong stems that reach up to 14 feet tall and has heads of up to 2 feet across.
Colour: Yellow
Height: 10′ – 14′
Heads: 1

Skyscraper

Skyscraper Sunflowers
Skyscraper is one of the tallest heirloom giant sunflowers which can grow up to 12 foot in height with bright yellow heads of about 1 foot in diameter.
Colour: Yellow
Height: 8′ – 12′
Heads: 1

Other Heirloom varieties you might want to look in to growing are: Autumn Beauty, Mammoth Grey-Stripe, Mexican Red / Torch, Mexican Yellow / Aztec Sun, Wild Sunflower, Red Sun, Evening Colours, Henry Wilde, Yellow Pygmy, Ebony & Gold, Black Russian, Mammoth Russian, Evening Sun, Rosto, Tarahumara, Arikara, Gelber Diskus, Large Grey Sunflower and Maya.

8 thoughts on “Heirlooms

  1. Thanks at first for your very nice information. I enjoyed to read your wonderful description about sunflowers.
    I’m wondering if you can help me: I have a lot of different sunflowers growing this year. One plant among them came along wrongly. It has to be Prado Gold but this looks very different. And this is the most beautiful one now from all of sunflowers! Therefore I love to know the name, also whether this is hybrid or heirloom.
    It look like similar with your photo on ‘Sunspot’ but the center is a bit smaller and petals are longer and curled. Deep yellow and around 2m-2,2m high. Now it flowers at the top 5 heads but at the side are new scions/blossoms appearing.
    The center is lime green with gold ring, later it becomes gold.
    I have photos, if you have time, I’d love to send to you.
    Thanks in adavance

    • It is hard to tell from a description. I’d certainly save the seeds if it is a good one with the hope you’ll be able to grow more next year.

  2. I’m afraid to start the process of harvesting my seeds cause I think that a lot of bugs are gonna get on me! My sunflower is a 12ft with a very large head.

  3. I’m really enjoying my small Irish Eyes Sunflowers. They are blooming their heads off. They are the first to bloom in the garden so hoping they won’t cross pollinate with any other sunflowers. Is this variety an heirloom that will come back true from seed?

  4. I have bought some seed of the blue sunflower, blueship variety, and I am wondering if this is a hybrid or heritage type as I would like to collect seed for the following year?
    Thanks

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