My Favorite Flower

Sanguisorba minor (Salad Burnet)

Contemplating Sunflowers

Sometimes you come across a plant that is so eager to carry on that it practically demands to be part of the garden, our traditional variety of large "volunteer" Mammoth Gray sunflowers are just such a plant. They re-seed so readily and prolifically that we no longer bother planting them and simply thin the volunteers down to the choicest seedlings which are then either transplanted or left to grow where they have germinated. By fall, the stalks on some are so broad and the plants themselves so lofty that I must feign a lumberjack and cut them down with a hand saw as if in a small deciduous forest of giant flowers. Stalks are often used as pea or bean poles during the following season, given their height they serve as exceptional supports for runner beans if tied into a tepee type formation.

My wife in amongst some of the late July, still young but burgeoning, volunteer Gray Mammoth sunflowers

However, we did deviate from the previous years norm and try a new variety called Mongolian Giant that are best known for their extraordinarily large seeds. With heads that are supposed to reach 18" across and seeds around 1.5", ours averaged about 10-14" across with some seeds almost as big as was suggested. The plants, though somewhat smaller than the giant volunteers, differed in that they had extremely uniform heads that allowed for much easier processing. Mongolian seeds themselves also seem to be a little more user friendly in that their size and elongated shape are an advantage when shelling.

The flavor being superb, I am considering growing only this variety next season, my dilemma being whether or not I should buy pure seed or rely on my own that quite possibly crossed with the other flowers. Sunflowers are insect pollinated and have a very heavy pollen that is not easily carried long distances, so perhaps the 50 or so feet of separation between the two varieties was enough...I really don't know.

As you can see, there is quite a difference in size between the Mongolian and volunteer seeds


As soon as the heads begin to yellow in the back and the now darkened seeds appear to be fully developed we cut the plants down and let the seedy heads dry in our greenhouse for a couple weeks making the removal of seed less difficult. They are not left to lie around for too long as our humid fall weather invariably causes the heads to rot from behind eventually infecting the seeds. Once the seeds are removed we finish the drying process next to our wood or pellet stove because the unshelled seeds also have a propensity to become moldy if they are not cured properly in a warm dry environment.

Tip - if your seed shells get a little moldy due to humidity they can be washed in warm water and strained before drying. I have done this and it works great, no need to waste good sunflower seeds.

Heads left to dry in the greenhouse for a couple of weeks before extracting the seeds

Removing the seeds and filling our bins...a slow arduous task to say the least:)


Drawn to the sun as in a hypnotic trance these colossal flowers provide us with a tremendous amount of health-giving seed. Ironically, this gift is not without it's drawbacks. A nightly ritual involves the laborious task of shelling a couple handfuls of seed that are tossed into salads providing us with an abundance of nutritional benefits. Considering the time consuming nature of this chore we have started experimenting with grinding the seeds, shell and all, in our little hand powered grain mill and adding the powder to either salads or morning fruit smoothies. A kind soul recently sent me some interesting pictures showing a homemade huller in operation and I may have to further explore the possibility of making my own one day.

Not only are these sustentative seeds a great source of protein and numerous other beneficial nutrients but also contain trace amounts of "natural" fluorine that can help one resist tooth decay, making them an excellent snack. I found the below highlighted article to be rather interesting in that it helps explain why these seeds are not just for the birds.

"Eat my dahlias?" she yelled...

"Eat my dahlias?" she yelled, her face contorted with a look of horror as I innocently walked through the door proudly displaying a bowl of the tubers. "Well yeah hon, I read about it in Mother Earth a while back, remember? I told you all about it" I said with a sly grin. My wife, looking at me in utter disbelief, questioned my sanity and reminded me that we had enough roots and tubers scattered about and that perhaps I should focus my attention on them and leave the poor flower bulbs alone.

"And just how do you plan on eating them?" she demanded, shaking her head in obvious dissatisfaction. "Well dear, if you remember correctly, it was I that convinced you to plant them in the first place, that said, we will grate them raw into our salad tonight" I proclaimed with smug disregard for her flowery sensitivities. "No problem Mike, you go right ahead and try them just don't expect me to get sick along with you" she responded walking out of the kitchen. "Foolish man wants to eat flower bulbs does he, well go right ahead" I heard her mumble under her breath from the other room. Pushing my luck, I couldn't help but call out a gentle reminder "they are not bulbs sweetie, they're tubers."


Anyway, it went something like that. Well, perhaps that is "quite" a bit of an exaggeration and perhaps I am a bit foolish, but in the end we both tried and enjoyed the new found spicy but subtle flavor of grated dahlia that adorned our salads. Enjoyed might also be a bit of a stretch, let's just say we reveled in the fact that they were indeed edible. All dahlia tubers are edible and so are their flower petals, I did refrain from dining on the flowers being content to simply gaze upon their beauty. No doubt eating the flowers would have seen me booted out the door with suitcase in hand. You can only push a flower gardener so far before she snaps.


Now while I am certainly not going to make a habit out of eating dahlia tubers I suppose it is good to know that if times were tough a person can have their blooms and eat them too. Dahlias like sunchokes, scorzonera, salsify and endive roots contain high levels of inulin, a healthful dietary fiber. It takes a body some time to adapt to this as inulin does not readily break down in the stomach.

The inulin in these foods has it's benefits. It can help increase the absorption of calcium and is also considered a prebiotic, helping to stimulate the growth of bacteria in the digestive system. Which, while a good thing, can cause a bit of stomach discomfort to those who have not adequately adapted to inulin rich foods. So starting out with the consumption of a small portion of these foods might be a wise choice. Don't worry, you will know if you ate too many.:)

Here is a link to the article on edible dahlias in "Mother Earth News" -

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Edible-Dahlia-Bulbs-Recipes.aspx