Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Team Making It Grow recently visited one of the SC Department of Agriculture’s agritourism farms in Anderson. Sol Flowers grows sunflowers to support the local Foothills Community Foundation. We arrived early and meet grower Danielle Roberts, who was already speaking with a young engaged couple and their photographer about having engagement pictures taken. Roberts grows a commercial type sunflower rather than one breed for the florist trade. While the crew got “b” roll after the interview, I was completely absorbed in watching insects feed on the eight acres field filled with large yellow blossoms. Mostly members of the bee family, from large to tiny, many had corbiculae, fancy name for pollen baskets, conspicuously visible and jam packed. Although the florist varieties last longer when cut, most of us should choose varieties that offer the necessary lipids and proteins that pollen contain.
Sunflowers!
