It’s been three years since my last appearance on the Hallmark Home and Family Show, and I’m happy to return this Wednesday (it repeats on Thursday, so I am told) to share information with you about growing sunflowers for pollinators.
Tune in Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 10 a.m./ 9 a.m. central for fun and flowers as we discuss bee-friendly gardens, why pollinators are important, and how to grow sunflowers for color, pollen, and food.
The photo above was taken in the south of France during a drive through cicada-laden fields on a hot day in July. We pulled over to snap the photo out the window and the sound of cicadas was deafening. These sunflowers were being grown for the seed oils. Fields went on for miles in all directions.
But I digress…
In case you missed my previous appearances on Hallmark Home and Family Show, here’s the write up about a segment on installing easy drip irrigation.
http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/home-and-family/how-to/christy-wilhelmis-at-home-drip-irrigation
Here’s another segment with fellow Gardenerds Shirley Bovshow (a regular on the show) and David Walrod of Urban Dirt TV.
Fair warning, there will be shenanigans as we play with other guests on the show for some charity game-time fun. Of course, we don’t have cable here, so if anyone has the means to record and send a copy, I’d be much obliged.
Tune in and make plans for flowers in your spring/summer garden. We’ll show you how to plant and care for your sunflowers (and tell you why they’re so important).
I love sunflowers. One year I had some beauties! But I found many stinks bugs on them for days. And of course I took them of(if I could get them) and put them in a covered plastic bowl so they would die.
The next year and since that time they seemed get to my squash and it did not produce. I found out by research that sunflowers also draw stink bugs. Then I remembered about the year of abundant amount
of the bugs. I have not been to find a way to get rid of them before they get to the squash. If I ever figure out I will let someone.
Sorry to hear about that Alice. Here is a page of info on how to combat squash bugs naturally. Mostly floating row cover will help: http://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/garden-pests/squash-bug-control/. You can also try attracting tachinid flies and predatory damsel bugs, which either lay their young inside of or feed on the adult squash bugs. Read more here for details: http://articles.extension.org/pages/63329/managing-squash-bugs-in-organic-farming-systems.
There are some great flowers/herbs you can plant to attract tachinid bugs to the garden, including lemon balm, parsley, tansy and thyme. This article (scroll down) has a good list: http://www.farmerfred.com/plants_that_attract_benefi.html
I hope this helps!