Many vegetable plants are attractive. Many have pretty flowers—okra (a hibiscus), scarlet runners, peas. None is more showy than the sunflower. Indeed, sunflowers are in the ornamentals section of the seed catalogue, not the vegetable section. There are plenty of sunflowers that don’t produce big meaty seeds for eating, but those that do are no less ornamental.

We eat sunflower seeds in a variety of ways. They are delicious sprinkled on top of a casserole or galette. They add nutty flavours to granola and veggie burgers. And they make a great snack!

We don’t grow nearly enough sunflowers to satisfy our appetite for sunflower seeds, but it’s always worth growing them, even if it’s only to enjoy the flowers!