I am such a spring loving flower girl, until these sunflowers and zinnias are in high speed pursuit in late August and early September. Sunflowers and zinnias are in bloom throughout the summer season, but near Labor Day weekend it is awesome to still have flowers because in a few weeks the first frost of fall is on the horizon. These may be some of the last beauties for the season.
Sunflowers and Zinnias from Seed
The most amazing thing about sunflowers and zinnias is how they can be direct sown outdoors from seed. Granted, sunflowers and zinnias can be started indoors to be transplanted, but I love keeping it simple. These are two of the types of seeds I reserve for direct sown versus transplant. They are great for anybody starting to grow cut flowers as a beginner.
Sunflowers for Labor Day
I love having a variety of sunflowers to arrange with. Singular varieties mixed together is great, but there’s something about having a mix. It’s all the same texture, but the colors vary.
Pro-Cut Orange sunnies have dark chocolate centers with orange petals in two layers around the center. It has the classic sunflower look.
Gold Lite sunflowers are all gold with golden centers and golden petals.
Buttercream sunnies match well with the orange and and gold being the hue of butter. It’s lighter, but it works with the other colors.
Henry Wilde Sunflowers
After not planting these sunflowers for over two years, these sunflowers set seeds in the fall, we rototill them in, unknowingly, and they germinate in the spring for a harvest the next season. They are not a perennial, but they set seeds to come back every year for us in zone 5b-6a.
I love these sunflowers. Compared to the pro-cut series, this heirloom variety I purchased from Baker Creek heirloom seeds has longer orange petals with chocolate centers accompanied by yellow pollen. Pollen does drop from them, but I’ve never minded, and neither has customers who have purchased these bouquets.
As much as I love an assortment of sunflowers, there is something magnificent about all these Henry Wilde sunflowers together. They are a branching type, but the stems are long enough for bouquets. And if they are planted close enough, they will grow as single stem. In some spots of the garden where they volunteered, they were naturally spaced 2”-4” apart. If given feet apart, these will branch out and span about 4’ in diameter.
Zinnias for Labor Day
Zinnias for 2023 were beautiful, but it feels like some of these zinnias waited until end of August to have their beauty shine.
Salmon Benary’s Giant Zinnias has layers upon layers of salmon, apricot petals. Coral and yellow ivory zinnias are some of my favorite to pair with this zinnia. Isabellina zinnias can be single or double petal, but the color is a pale yellow, almost ivory, but still saturated with a light hue.
Zinnias come in about every color. They’re like a warm-hued rainbow with the corals, gold, oranges, lime, pale yellow, pinks, and whites.
Labor Day Sunflowers and Zinnias
With the last summer picnics going on and the threat of the first fall frost loaming in the weeks to come, Labor Day flowers are special as they may be one of the last of the great beauties for the season as fall comes nearer with cooler weather and shorter day-lengths. Zinnias are beautiful. Sunflowers are gorgeous. Neither takes much to start from seed to grow your own cut flower garden.
