Helianthus

What if you could crown just one flower queen of the summer flowers? You’d definitely choose the majestic sunflower! Did you know that this flower looks at the sun, the whole day long? She doesn’t want to miss a single ray and at night the flower turns back towards the east, waiting for the sun to rise again.

Appearance
We all know the powerful yellow sunflower, but did you know that you could also choose between orange, brown, cream and dark red versions? When it comes to shapes the Helianthus offers plenty of varieties such as sunflowers with large or small flowers, with a single row of petals or with multiple rings of petals.

Symbolism
The sunflower mostly symbolises sun and love, this probably doesn’t come as a surprise. In Greek mythology the nymph Clytia fell head over heels in love with the sun god Apollo. Although Clytia was very beautiful, Apollo did not reciprocate her love. As a result Clytia died of a broken heart, was transformed into a sunflower and therefore constantly follows the sun in order to be able to see her sun god.

Origin
The sunflower originates from North and South America. Native Americans ate the flower’s seeds with beans, sweetcorn, and pumpkin. The name of the Helianthus comes from a combination of the Greek words ‘helios’ which means sun and ‘anthos’ which means flower.