It’s that time of year – when sunflower fields are abundant. Luckily, there are farmers in my area who give their sunflowers away. So how could we not go for a photo op, and a free super large bouquet? What we didn’t realize, was how to keep our cut sunflowers fresh for longer than a few days. 

Visiting the Field

There are many fields of sunflowers blooming everywhere in the USA. Some allow just photos, whereas others, such as The Monroe Sunflower Field, allow pictures, and have  shears available for anyone wanting to bring home a bouquet or two. 

The women in my family decided to take a drive and do just that. We brought our long bush cutters (to get the widest, largest sunflowers), and headed into the field.  

We noticed that all the sunflower heads were turned away from the parking lot. It was my daughter (who took horticulture) that clued me in to why they were all facing away: The flower heads follow/face the sun throughout the day. Who would of thought? 

After picking a few bouquets and placing them directly into a few vases, we stood there admiring them. But by the same time the following day, they already started to droop, and loose some petals. After seeing the condition of the flowers in the vase, we checked/changed the water. But it just wasn’t enough. 

Figuring Out Too Late to Save Our Sunflowers

You can see by the picture, our sunflowers had enough water, but still began wilting. We thought maybe they’d bounce back in another day. By the time we researched online, their pollen and petals were dropping everywhere. It was very sad to toss them so soon, and all I could think of was how did Van Gogh paint his vase of sunflowers so quickly? 

I was so intrigued, I googled the artist’s original picture. His flowers seemed to be drooping too! But, his brush style brought brilliance to everything. Sorry for that segue. 

Tips on Keeping Your Sunflowers Alive Longer

Striving to always learn more and share, I found The Coshocton Sunflower Festival had some good tips:  

1. After bringing your cut sunflowers home, cut them again – at a angle.
2. Before placing them in fresh water, cut any leaves that would be below the water line. 
3. Add the following ingredients to the water, to keep flowers vibrant longer:                     A teaspoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and/or 1 tablespoon of vinegar.
4. Toss a penny in the water, to prevent bacteria growth.
5. Most importantly, do not expose the sunflowers to any further sunlight. They don’t do well next to windows. 

Basically, I did almost everything the opposite of what care is needed for sunflowers. So please heed the suggestions above. Luckily, there’s still time to grab another bouquet. 

The Coshocton Festival has a few more tidbits of wisdom, you may want to check out. The Duke Manor Farm has even more details to how to cut them from the field, for a better outcome. Between the two websites, you’ll be ready to go pick your own sunflowers, and happily display them for days.