Sunflower seeds are one of the first seeds that most children plant in the garden! They are easy to handle, plants grow with little extra care, and they produce stunning flowers that are a favorite of many. We love growing and planting sunflower seeds yearly on the farm for their multiple benefits. They are easily directly sown in the garden in the spring to produce stunning flowers that pollinators and birds love. Then in the fall, you can harvest and enjoy the sunflower seeds to eat or replant in the spring! Eating your sunflower seeds from the garden is easy and tasty! Simply take your sunflower heads when they are mature and leave them to dry in an area out of direct sunlight and away from critters. Once dry, seeds will easily fall from the plant and can be stored until consumed. Sunflower seeds are loved by birds too! Each year when we plant sunflowers, we have flocks of birds that come to enjoy the tasty treat. This is great for bird watching but not so great for our seed production! When purchasing sunflower seeds to grow in your garden, there are a few characteristics to consider. Sunflowers seeds produce plants that are either multi-branching or single branching. Sunflowers grown for pollinators, birds, or a wild natural-looking garden benefit from multi-branch tall sunflowers. Sunflowers planted for flower arrangements and cut flowers are best grown from single stem flowers.