A Sun Valley Riddle: What flower originated in North America, was domesticated by American Indians, commercialized by Russians, and then finally returned to North America for hybridization and commercial farming over 100 years ago?
If you guessed Sunflower you are correct! And you get bonus points if you guessed Helianthus (From the Greek: Hēlios, "sun" and anthos, "flower").
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As mentioned in our riddle, the sunflower’s wild ancestor is native to North America, and it was the American Indians who first domesticated it into a single-headed plant in order to harvest the seeds. However, they also saw the value and beauty in the plant for non-food uses as well. According to The American Society of Agronomy, they used all parts of the versatile plant to make dye for textiles, oil for skin and hair, and they even used the sturdy, dried stalk as building material. The plant itself, along with its seeds, was widely used in ceremonies.
Eventually explorers took this exotic flora back to Europe, where it was adopted and commercialized in Russia. Why? It just so happened that sunflower oil was one of the few fats allowed to be consumed by Orthodox Russians during Lent, and its demand shot up! Only in the last 150 years has the sunflower returned to North America as a cultivated crop, and it was here that hybridization techniques were utilized to give us the beloved ornamental sunflower that we offer today.
Chasing the Sun
The demand for year-round sunflowers has transported our sunflower operation to Baja California, where the balmy climate is just what these bright babies need. Because what a sunflower reallyloves is......well, you know, sun. And lots of it. Sunflowers also like consistency and hate stress, so the warm, long Baja days translate into comfortable nights which give our sunflowers the consistent weather conditions that keeps them happily reaching for the sky.
Consistency is one of the keys to a successful flower farming operation, and our ability to grow sunflowers in two Baja locations (Southern Cabo for the first half of the year, Northern Ensenada for the second half) allows for a continuity in weather that gives us (and you) a regular supply of high-quality, floral-grade sunflowers.
How We Harvest
We plant sunflowers in rows in the field, where they have room to stretch and soak up as much sun as possible. They love the sun so much that their heads will follow its path as it races across the sky.
Sunflower farm in Baja
The first thing a sunflower forms atop its stalk is its center. From there, it begins building its petals, and as soon as one petal begins to raise its vibrant head, that is our signal that the sunflower is ready to be picked.
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| Freshly picked sunflowers || Completely opened sunflowers |
After picking, we hydrate the blooms for 24 hours and then ship them while they're still closed (which prevents possible damage). Once they arrive to their destination, the first drink of water will help them open up and flatten out into their iconic shape. They can be shipped wet or dry, with or without foliage, which makes it easy for you to have your aesthetic pick of the litter. In addition, our ability to grow them year-round (peak season June-November) has allowed us to increase the amount of specialty sunflowers in production, such as our Teddy Bear Sunflower (super soft, multi-layered petals), our fall-season red sunflowers, and our newer green-centered varieties which are all seeing an increased demand.
So whether you desire the classic black-eye sunflower, its red-hued sister, or teddy bear cousin you can let the sunshine in, no matter where you are.
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| Green-eye Sunflower |
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| Red Sunflowers |
Children of the Sun
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