You’ve Grown The Common Sunflower – Now Try One Of These Varieties Too
Reviewed By COLIN SKELLY
Colin is a Horticulturist and Horticultural Consultant with experience in a range of practical and managerial roles across heritage, commercial and public horticulture. He holds the Royal Horticultural Society’s Master of Horticulture award and has a particular interest in horticultural ecology and naturalistic planting for habitat and climate resilience.
IN THIS GUIDE
- 1) Helianthus annuus
- 2) H. annuus ‘Valentine’
- 3) H. annuus ‘Garden Statement’
- 4) H. annuus ‘Sunsation Yellow’
- 5) H. annuus ‘Pacino Gold’
- 6) H. annuus ‘Little Leo’
- 7) H. annuus ‘Titan’
- 8) H. annuus ‘Giraffe’
- 9) H. annuus ‘Russian Giant’
- 10) H. annuus ‘Kong’
- 11) H. annuus ‘Helios Flame’
- 12) H. annuus ‘Copper Queen’
- 13) H. annuus ‘Velvet Queen’
- 14) H. annuus ‘Ruby Sunset’
- 15) H. annuus ‘Claret’
- 16) H. annuus ‘Black Magic’
- 17) H. annuus ‘Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl’
- 18) H. ‘Loddon Gold’
- 19) H. scaberrimus
- 20) H. maximiliani
- References
Sunflowers produce their floral reward very promptly after planting and in profusion, but they also have other pleasing characteristics.
For example, as the flowers are a source of nectar, they will draw butterflies and bees to your garden in abundance.
When they have withered, they form sunflower seeds which can be used for all your culinary needs and as a source of food for the wildlife in your garden.
Most of all though, it’s the very large flowers, their uncomplicated daisy-like form, the brilliant yellow colour, and their height that make sunflowers so attractive.
Underneath, I talk you through my favourite 20 sunflower varieties, selected for a wide choice of flower forms and colours, that can be found easily here in the UK.
Other than where noted, they flower through most of the summer and are annuals.
1) Helianthus annuus
- COMMON NAME(S): common sunflower / comb flower
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: yellow and brown
- SIZE: 2.5-4m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Native to a swath of land from the central belt of the United States to that of Mexico, the common sunflower is found on prairies, grasslands and disturbed ground.
This tough annual self-seeds readily and has become naturalised in many geographic regions outside North America.
The plants are typically about 3m tall.
The large leaves are well known for being hairy and heart-shaped, whilst the flowers are huge at 25-30cm across.
On the species plant, the disc florets are in varying rich shades of brown and the ray florets are a bright, sunny yellow.
2) H. annuus ‘Valentine’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘valentine’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: yellow and brown
- SIZE: 1-1.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Rising to just over 1m and with flowers measuring 15-17cm in diameter, ‘Valentine’ produces amongst the lightest-coloured sunflowers – or the darkest, depending on your point of view.
The rays are a pale, lemony yellow, sometimes even a pale cream.
However, the disc is dark brown, sometimes virtually black!
Either way, this is definitely the sunflower with the most contrasting colours and it has been credited with the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
3) H. annuus ‘Garden Statement’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘garden statement’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: yellow and brown
- SIZE: 1.5-2m in height, 0.5-1m spread
About 90cm tall, ‘Garden Statement’ is a relatively new cultivar that is rapidly gaining popularity.
It has light, bright, lemony-yellow rays of a crinkly texture and a disc that is a chocolate brown shade.
Though this cultivar has a narrowish profile, quite interestingly, it has the bonus of being a multi-stalked type, making it more of a typical garden plant.
4) H. annuus ‘Sunsation Yellow’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘sunsation yellow’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: yellow and brown
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Technically qualifying as a dwarf variety at 75cm tall, ‘Sunsation Yellow’ boasts the plus point of a relatively long blooming season that goes well into autumn.
Its 15-17cm wide flowers are a proper lemon yellow, with rich, chocolate-brown discs.
This plant has received the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
5) H. annuus ‘Pacino Gold’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘Pacino gold’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: yellow
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Only about 65cm tall, ‘Pacino Gold’ is another dwarf variety.
A clear plus point is that this branching variety is especially floriferous.
It has very bright sunny yellow rays centred by an amber disc so that the entire flower is rather lighter in shade than those of most varieties.
6) H. annuus ‘Little Leo’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘little leo’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: yellow
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Unquestionably a dinky dwarf variety at only 50cm, ‘Little Leo’ lives up to its billing.
It is a branching or multi-stalked type and the flowers are a bright sunny, sulphur yellow.
It blooms from early to mid-summer and lasts well into autumn.
7) H. annuus ‘Titan’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘titan’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: yellow
- SIZE: 2.5-4m in height, 0.5-1m spread
At the opposite end of the size spectrum, ‘Titan’, a giant sunflower variety, grows between 3-4m high.
Its flowers, held aloft, have a light brown disc surrounded by bright sunny-yellow to sulphur-yellow petals.
These flowers are truly made for titans, having a mind-boggling width of nearly 50cm.
8) H. annuus ‘Giraffe’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘giraffe’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: brown and yellow
- SIZE: 4-8m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Reaching a staggering height of about 4.5m, which is taller than some trees, the aptly-named ‘Giraffe’ is a giant sunflower.
A point worth noting is that its stem, besides being long, is also quite strong.
Not only is this cultivar super tall, but its flowers are also massive, often 30cm in diameter or even more.
They bloom from mid-summer to early autumn.
9) H. annuus ‘Russian Giant’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘Russian giant’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: yellow and brown
- SIZE: 2.5-4m in height, 0.5-1m spread
While ‘Russian Giant’ is the least tall of our giant sunflower selections at 2.5-3m tall, it produces truly giant flowers at 30cm across.
The rays’ colour varies from sunny yellow to sulphur yellow to a stunning golden shade.
The disc is uniformly chocolate brown.
This cultivar seems to be especially attractive to bees, butterflies and birds.
10) H. annuus ‘Kong’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘kong’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: yellow
- SIZE: 2.5-4m in height, spread
At 4m high, ‘Kong’ is not quite as tall as the fabled giant gorilla, but it is very much a giant among its kith and kin.
A real plus point is that this giant cultivar is a branching type, so it bears multiple flowers on each stem.
The big 16-18cm flowers are centred by a rich brown disc surrounded by equally rich deep yellow rays.
11) H. annuus ‘Helios Flame’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘helios flame’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: yellow and brown
- SIZE: 1.5-2m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
‘Helios Flame’ is a rarity among sunflowers, being properly bi-coloured.
The near-black discs are surrounded by rays that are delicious mahogany at their medial halves, bleeding with streaks into a brilliant, popping yellow.
The flowers are held on very sturdy stems.
This cultivar is of medium height, towering at about 1.8m.
12) H. annuus ‘Copper Queen’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘copper queen’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: orange and brown
- SIZE: 1.5-2.5m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Of an intermediate height of 1.8m, what distinguishes ‘Copper Queen’ from the others on this list is the colour of its rays – they are out-and-out orange.
The central disc is very dark brown, adding to the dramatic hue of this cultivar’s flower.
It has a longer blooming season than most other varieties.
13) H. annuus ‘Velvet Queen’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘velvet queen’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: gold and orange
- SIZE: 1-1.5m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Reaching a height of around 1.5m and producing flowers of average size and which has a corresponding average blooming season, ‘Velvet Queen’ is actually a very special cultivar.
The reason is that it produces fantastic flowers that are of a riveting coppery red hue with a distinctly velvety sheen.
14) H. annuus ‘Ruby Sunset’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘ruby sunset’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: red
- SIZE: 1-1.5m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Also of a nondescript height nearing 1.5m and also producing flowers of an average size, ‘Ruby Sunset’ is also very much a special cultivar.
Again, it is because of the intense hues.
Centred by a rich brown disc, the flowers are a thrilling coppery ruby-red.
15) H. annuus ‘Claret’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘claret’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: black, brown and red
- SIZE: 1-1.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Dark drama is the name of the game here.
To start with, the stems bearing the flowers of this variety are a dark bronzy-green colour.
Then, the flowers are in a shade that varies from that of a red bordeaux to that of a tawny port.
What’s more, these thrilling blooms are centred by a black disc.
The flowers are of a sizeable width of 12-15cm and the plant rises to around 1.6-1.8m.
‘Claret’ has received the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
16) H. annuus ‘Black Magic’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘black magic’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: black and purple
- SIZE: 1-1.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Probably more difficult to source than most of our other selections, ‘Black Magic’ produces a take-your-breath-away flower.
Surrounding a hard black disc, the rays start black, then fade to a maroon, finishing a coppery-red at the tips.
At 1.2m tall, this cultivar is quite compact.
It is of a branching type and shows off its incredible, one-of-a-kind flowers nearly all summer long.
17) H. annuus ‘Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘sunbeliv01’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: brown, red and yellow
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.5-1m spread
A relatively new cultivar appearing around 2018, ‘Sunbelievable Brown Eyed Girl’ took the bronze medal at that year’s Chelsea Flower Show and it is easy to see why.1Rice, G. (2018b, September 28). Graham Rice’s new plants blog: new everblooming sunflower. Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved March 24, 2023, from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/plants-blogs/plants/august-2018/helianthus-annuus-sunbelievable
It produces a gorgeous flower, is prolific and floriferous, and it blooms all summer and autumn long!
The lovely bi-coloured flower is centred by a black-brown disc.
The petals start amber-mahogany and transition to bright sunny yellow.
Of an unusually bushy form, this dwarf variety is 60cm tall with an equal spread.
It is a sterile, seedless variety that is grown from cuttings.
18) H. ‘Loddon Gold’
- COMMON NAME(S): sunflower ‘Loddon gold’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: yellow
- SIZE: 1-1.5m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Is that a sunflower or a marigold?
‘Loddon Gold’ is a clump-forming perennial and has a very convenient height of 1.5m.
Its coarse leaves are more ovate than cordate.
As for the flowers, they are 10-12cm across and are of a rich golden-yellow tone.
They are dome-shaped, have narrow rays, and are in a fully double form.
This plant is a recipient of the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
19) H. scaberrimus
- COMMON NAME(S): showy sunflower
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: yellow
- SIZE: 1.5-2.5m in height, 1-1.5m spread
‘Showy Sunflower’ is another option for those who prefer perennials and this species also has a clump-forming habit.
Its leaves are different too, as they are serrated and elliptic.
The plants rise to about 2m tall.
This species’ flowers appear in late summer to late autumn.
They are in semi to double form.
The rays are a light bright yellow and, at another point of departure, the light brown discs are quite small and not as prominent as in most other varieties’ flowers.
They are nearly 12cm across.
20) H. maximiliani
- COMMON NAME(S): maximilian sunflower
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- FLOWERS: yellow
- SIZE: 1.5-2.5m in height, 1-1.5m spread
A different species of sunflower, the Maximilian sunflower is a clump-forming perennial.
It is quite tall and can grow beyond 2m in height.
Unlike other sunflowers, this variety has lanceolate leaves.
The rays are a very light yellow with small, light brown centres.
On this species, flowers are held along the length of the stems.
They are also scented, delicately but distinctly, which is an unusual trait among sunflowers.
“As a perennial rather than an annual, this species has the edge in terms of annual gardening labour,” says Colin Skelly, a Horticultural Consultant.
“It doesn’t have the large discs associated with many of the annuals, but it more than makes up for it with multiple smaller discs that are hugely popular with pollinators in late summer. A great perennial for the back of the border.”
