Summer Lovin Sunflower is an F1 hybrid sunflower with a striking strawberry-lemonade color palette that brings warmth and personality to any garden or vase. This compact variety reaches maturity in just 60-70 days, making it one of the fastest routes to bloom. Hardy across zones 2-11, it thrives in moderate watering conditions and slightly acidic to neutral soil, offering reliable performance whether you're growing in a small urban garden or a sprawling landscape. Its tight, branching growth habit and exceptional cut flower qualities make it a favorite among florists and home gardeners alike.
—
Moderate
2-11
?in H x ?in W
—
Moderate
Hover over chart points for details
The strawberry-lemonade blend of colors sets this hybrid apart, creating a warm, almost romantic tone in the garden or on the kitchen table. It flowers quickly, from seed to blossom in about two months, which means you can succession-plant every few weeks for continuous color all summer long. The compact growth habit keeps it manageable, while its proven longevity as a cut flower means your blooms will last and last in the vase.
Summer Lovin Sunflower excels as a cut flower, performing beautifully whether you harvest blooms tight and just showing color, or wait until they're almost completely open. Florists and home arrangers appreciate its long vase life and the unique color story it brings to mixed bouquets. For those interested in drying flowers, the fully open blooms dry well using either air-drying or silica gel, creating lasting floral arrangements and botanical crafts.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Sow seeds into 72 to 50-cell flats 2-3 weeks before your planned transplant date. While direct seeding is recommended for sunflowers, starting indoors can successfully produce an earlier first crop, though these plants dislike root disturbance and benefit from careful handling during transplant.
Transplant seedlings outdoors after your last spring frost date, spacing plants 18 inches apart. Handle seedlings carefully to minimize root disturbance during the transition.
Direct seed outdoors after the last spring frost, sowing seeds ½ inch deep. This is the recommended method for sunflowers and produces vigorous, minimally stressed plants.
Harvest flowers when color first shows for tight, long-lasting cut flower arrangements, or wait until blooms are almost completely open, depending on your preference and intended use. For drying, allow flowers to open completely before cutting. Cut stems in the early morning when they're fully hydrated for the longest vase life.
Pinching the growing tip of branching varieties is recommended to encourage a fuller plant with multiple side stems, resulting in longer stems suitable for cutting. This technique transforms a single-stem plant into a multi-branched producer.
Enter your ZIP code to see a personalized growing calendar for this plant.