The Autumn Beauty sunflower is perfect for anyone looking to add a deeply vibrant array of colors to their garden this year!
If blindingly bright shades of pastels or boring, flat petals aren’t for you, the Autumn Beauty sunflower could be a great compromise. Though still bold and beautiful, the autumnal colors offer an element of elegance to any garden, especially during the late summer and early fall months.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about these fiery additions to your yard!
Characteristics of the Autumn Beauty Sunflower
Of course, the most obvious talking point of the Autumn Beauty sunflower is its appearance. These blooms don’t come in one single, standard color; they’re called Autumn Beauty for a reason, after all!
Just like the trees changing into all sorts of unpredictable colors outdoors, you’ll find several different colors showing up in your Autumn Beauty sunflower patch. You can expect to spot pure gold, bright yellow, orange and rust-red, deep red and lighter red, orange to yellow, and many variations of these mixes.
If you love autumn colors but don’t have many trees in your yard—or any room to plant some—a host of Autumn Beauty sunflowers are a great way to bring an imitation of fall foliage into your outdoor space without overcrowding or pushing into your neighbor’s space.
These flowers are just shy of the height of some dwarf variations of trees, too—they can grow to as tall as eight feet in height! While you’re more likely to see them hover around the five or six-foot mark, keep in mind that they can get even taller. You’ll want to choose the place where you plant them accordingly!
With tall stalks come equally large blooms…okay, well, maybe not equally large, but proportionally appropriate, at least!
The Autumn Beauty sunflower produces blooms that stretch out to around six inches in diameter; not only that, but they can produce far more blooms than your usual sunflower. You can expect these flowers to sprout up a couple of dozen blooms per plant!
If you’re seeking a pollinator-friendly arrangement for your garden, these are also a great pick for that. Birds, bees, and other pollinators adore the Autumn Beauty sunflower as a pollen-rich perch throughout their travels.
While these flowers, like most sunflowers, are very easy to grow, they lack any particular disease or pest resistance. You’ll have to keep a close eye on them to ensure naughty squirrels, plant-devouring bugs, and other pests steer clear; if you happen to live in a pest-populated area, you can always invest in a Garden Pest Success Kit.
Autumn Beauty Sunflower FAQ
Where can you buy this flower?
You can find Autumn Beauty sunflowers in bouquets at certain stores during the season, but you’re most likely to be able to track them down in local florists’ shops or by ordering online.
There’s no real guarantee that you’ll be able to walk into a store and find these specific sunflowers; they tend to be mixed in with other types of flowers that match the autumn color palette.
Of course, if you want the absolute best chance of having these flowers available to you at any time you like, there’s only one surefire way to ensure you have access…and that’s to grow them yourself at home!
Can you grow it at home?
You not only can grow these flowers at home, but I highly suggest that you do! Sunflowers are fairly easy to grow even for gardening beginners, and with the Autumn Beauty sunflower, you can pack a lot of wow factors into a pretty simple gardening endeavor.
Flowers can be notoriously difficult to grow from seed, but sunflowers are pretty hardy. Your biggest concern will likely be pests that enjoy nibbling on juvenile sunflowers as they grow, but you’ll also want to be careful to plant your seeds well after the final frost in your area.
The flowers can be started indoors earlier and transplanted if you like, but some people recommend against it, suggesting that direct sowing is a better method for sunflowers.
What are the benefits of growing at home?
As mentioned previously, one of the biggest benefits is being able to cut these flowers from your very own garden to have them in your home whenever you please. Of course, there are more benefits to planting these gorgeous, gentle giant flowers in your own garden.
Autumn colors naturally make everyone stop in their tracks to oo and ah, so if you’re looking to spruce up your curb appeal, planting some Autumn Beauty sunflowers could be a great way to catch some interest from potential buyers.
Sunflower fields are a popular destination in late summer to fall, after all; who wouldn’t want to have that experience for free?
Where should you plant it?
Growing sunflowers is easy, but planting them can be a little bit trickier. As their name suggests, sunflowers really need to be planted in full sunlight, so make sure you don’t accidentally plant them in an area where they’re prevented from receiving that sunlight, such as beneath trees or in the shade of a deck.
You’ll also want to try and find an area that isn’t too exposed to wind. Due to their height and top-heavy nature, sunflowers are uniquely vulnerable to wind damage.
Where To Buy Autumn Beauty Sunflower Seeds
While you can buy these seeds in many places, we trust Hoss Tools the most for my Autumn Beauty Sunflower seeds! You always want to ensure you purchase your seeds from a reputable gardening business; it would be awful to end up with a bag of duds instead of a blossoming, thriving garden!
Wrapping Up the Autumn Beauty Sunflower
There you have it: everything you need to know about the Autumn Beauty sunflower! These flowers certainly live up to their name, and they’ll bring those beloved fall colors straight to your own backyard, whether you live in a tree-filled area or not!
If you want more information on sunflower care, sunflower varieties, and more, check out our sunflower section now!
- About the Author
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Cassidy Eubanks is a proud Michigander, an avid reader, a lover of colorful gardens, and a writer for Minneopa Orchards.
After earning her bachelor’s in Creative Writing (partially through virtual learning, thanks to the pandemic), gardening gave her an excuse to get outside and get away from all the screens. With a particular love for decorating with colorful flowers, using herbs grown in her own garden, and finding creative ways to build big gardens in small spaces, Cassidy enjoys helping others learn about growing their own food, flowers, and trees through Minneopa Orchards!