Q: I’ve heard sunflowers can grow to be really tall. What is the
tallest sunflower ever grown?
Q: I’ve heard sunflowers can grow to be really tall. What is the tallest sunflower ever grown?
A: The tallest sunflower on record was 25 feet tall. It was grown in the Netherlands.
The largest sunflower head on record measure 32.5 inches across its widest point. It was grown in Canada. The shortest full-grown sunflower on record was about 2 inches tall. It was grown in Oregon using the Bonsai technique.
According to the National Sunflower Association, sunflowers were used by early American natives before corn and beans were introduced into America. They ate the seeds of the flower, ground the small kernels into flour, extracted oil from seeds to use in their hair, and used the seeds, flower petals and pollen to make dyes for face paint, clothes and baskets.
In Peru, the Aztecs worshipped sunflowers, according to the association. The flowers were introduced into Europe in the early 1500s and were used for gifts carried by Spanish settlers returning home.
The great Russian ruler Peter the Great thought so highly of sunflowers when he saw them in Holland that he took seeds back to Russia. By the 1700s, sunflower seeds were a common part of the Russian diet.
Today, sunflowers provide leaves for smoking, flower buds for salads, flowers for dyes and oil for cooking in Europe and the United States.
Source: National Sunflower Association
