I love this time of year because the sunflowers are starting to bloom! Sunflowers are native to North America. There’s evidence that Native Americans grew sunflowers from Mexico to Southern Canada.
Early Spanish explorers encountered sunflowers in the 16th century and brought the seeds back to Europe. Along with sunflower oil, they became a widespread cooking ingredient. Today, most industrial-scale production is found in Eastern Europe, with Ukraine and Russia producing over half of worldwide seed production and 70-80% of the world’s sunflower oil exports.
Tsar Peter the Great is responsible for bringing the flowers to Russia, after seeing them in Netherlands. They became popular there when people discovered that sunflower oil wasn’t banned during Lent, like some other oils the Russian Orthodox Church forbade them from using. By the 19th century, 2 million acres of sunflowers were planted a year in Russia.
You might have heard that sunflower heads trace the path of the sun. It’s called heliotropism, and only flower buds and young blossoms display this behavior, facing east in the morning and moving west throughout the day. When the plants reach full maturity, they no longer follow the sun and permanently face east.
Sunflowers can grow as tall as 16 feet. The tallest in the world was just over 30 feet! It was grown in Germany in 2014, and the local fire department had to help measure it with their ladder. Sunflowers also have the ability to absorb toxins, including toxic metals like lead and radiation. After nuclear disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima, millions were planted to help the land recover.
Sunflowers are the national flower of Ukraine. Not only is it one of their biggest crops, but it’s become a global symbol of resistance, unity, and hope. The sunflower is also the state flower of Kansas.
Learn more here.