Sunflowers' Companion Plants: Discover 5 Crops and Blossoms That Thrive Near Sunny Sunflowers
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Gardeners looking to create a vibrant and thriving garden can benefit from the practice of companion planting. This method, recommended by experts such as horticulturists, agricultural scientists, and sustainable gardening enthusiasts, aims to protect plants from pests and diseases and create a more ideal growing environment.
One plant that thrives when paired with sunflowers is corn. Both plants share similar height, colour, and growing requirements, making them great companions. Corn seeds from Burpee can be easily grown in a sunny spot for a bountiful harvest.
Another potential sunflower companion is amaranth, also known as love-lies-bleeding. This tall, showy plant creates a bold visual statement with sunflowers. Amaranth can be harvested as a nutritious ancient grain or left for birds to feast on. Siobhan Shaw, a sustainable gardening expert and the founder of Growing to Give, suggests amaranth as a floral sunflower companion.
Squash is another recommended sunflower companion. Squash varieties are available at Burpee for growing, and they can also be grown vertically alongside sunflowers, helping to support their water needs and keep them blooming.
Peppers also benefit from being paired with sunflowers. Sunflowers attract pollinators, offering peppers a bit of shade and helping to control pests as sunflowers can be used as trap plants.
However, it's important to note that sunflowers are not good companion plants for winter vegetables due to finishing flowering by fall and exhibiting allelopathic effects.
Sunflowers pair well with certain plants over others for successful growth. For example, melons such as watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, and others will benefit from the pollinator magnet sunflowers are. To ensure a successful harvest of melons, they should be fertilized as they are heavy feeders. All-purpose flower and vegetable plant food from Amazon is a good choice for fertilizing melons.
Dwarf sunflowers can also benefit from many of these companion plants, but pruning sunflowers is necessary to keep them healthy.
Lastly, Siobhan Shaw and Lindsay Chastain, an experienced homesteader and the founder of The Waddle and Cluck, have both highlighted the benefits of companion planting for both crops and ornamental plants, including sunflowers.
By carefully selecting companion plants, gardeners can create a thriving and beautiful garden that not only produces a bountiful harvest but also attracts pollinators and creates a visually stunning display.
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