Grow a Sunflower House!

by FamilyEducation Staff

This article is brought to you in association with our partner, Garden.com.

By Diana Dickinson Davis

Do you ever wish you had a place of your very own to hang out? A special spot where you can play with friends or just be by yourself? Why not plant a sunflower house? With a couple packets of sunflower seeds, water, and a sunny spot, you can grow your very own house. It's easy, but you must to be patient--growing a house takes time you know! Here's how you do it.

1. You'll need a packet (about 25 seeds) of sunflowers, varieties that grow about 6 to 8 feet tall. Good choices are Giant Sungold with big bushy flower heads, Autumn Beauty with yellow and burgundy bicolored blooms, Sun Samba with multi-colored flowers, and Sunzilla, a monster of a sunflower.

2. Find a sunny spot and dig a circle, square, or rectangle in the dirt. Check first with your parents to make sure the location for your house is okay. We grew a rectangle sunflower house that was 16 feet by 8 feet--about the size of compact car. We used a couple packets of sunflower seeds.

3. Plant the seeds an inch deep and about 8 inches apart. Remember to leave an opening for a door. Cover with dirt and give the seeds a good drink of water. Watch for little seedlings to pop up in about a week. Keep watering and soon the seedlings will grow into the walls for your house.

4. Remember to keep an eye on your growing house. Invite your friends over for a picnic or decorate your house with plant markers, stepping stones, and even pots of little flowers.

5. At the end of the summer, save the seeds from the sunflowers (if hungry birds don't get them first) and plant them again next year for an even bigger and better house!