Houseplant of the month: Sunflower

This houseplant of the month can’t be missed due to its lively yellow flowers, static look and gorgeous green leaves. It’s no wonder the Incas used these flowers to symbolise the Sun God. If you want it to be summer inside the house too, the Sunflower is your best companion.

 

An intelligent plant

The Sunflower originates from Central- and South-America. The Maya, Inca and Aztecs used to eat the flower seeds, which are still quite popular as a snack. At the end of the Middle Ages, the flower finally came to Europe too. You might have seen Sunflower fields, during your holiday in France, for example. Did you notice that almost all Sunflowers face the same direction? They do this because the Sunflower knows exactly where the sun is and turns its face towards it, smart thinking! 

 

Looking after Sunflowers

As its name suggests, the Sunflower loves the sun and is very tolerant of receiving light. It does need quite some water, it is good to make sure to keep the soil a bit moist at all times. Besides that, it is recommendable to use plant food once a week, to keep the flowering going. Additionally, you can give new buds more space by removing wilted flowers every once in a while. Other than that, the Sunflower doesn’t need much further attention and is quite easy going.

 

Sunflower decoration

There are many options on how to decorate your home with the Sunflower. The Sunflower on its own is rather eye-catching already, but you could also consider displaying multiple Sunflowers at different heights, in a row of containers. You could also use multiple containers and/or sizes and display Sunflowers of the same height. Or, you could place multiple sunflowers in the same container, together with some other plants. Purple and lilac are colours that do really well with the Sunflower. The possibilities are endless!