Sunflowers
Sunflowers – Van Gogh is perhaps best known for the sunflowers painted during his stay in the South of France, however the wild sunflower is native to North America. It’s easy to understand why he was so inspired by them, for they are truly one of the most beautiful flowers on the planet. It is unclear if the sunflower played a roll in the first Thanksgiving but we do know that it has become a symbol of harvest and is often used in Thanksgiving centerpieces in modern times.
Looking For A Centerpiece With Sunflowers?
The wild sunflower is native to North America, Lewis and Clark mentioned in their journals that the plains Indians were using them and when they were brought back to the “Old World” by European explorers, sunflowers were cultivated and commercialized.
The Scientific name for Sunflower is Helianthus (Helios meaning sun, Anthos meaning flower). It got its name because it follows the sun, thus the sunflower! It’s not just one flower, but instead a cluster of approximately two thousand tiny flowers growing together.
Sunflower heads can grow to be more than two feet in diameter. The plant itself can grow to reach eighteen feet. The tallest on record is twenty-five feet and that was recorded in the Netherlands. It’s only recently that the sunflower plant returned to North America to become a cultivated crop. This is fitting since it was the Native Americans who first domesticated it into a single headed plant with a variety of seed colors.
Evidence suggests that Native Americans in present-day Arizona and New Mexico cultivated the sunflower plant around 3000 BC. Some archaeologists suggest that the sunflower could have been domesticated even before corn. The sunflower was a popular crop among many American Indian tribes throughout the continent.
The sunflower was used in many ways by various Native American tribes. Seed was ground or pounded into flour for cakes, mush or bread for food. Some tribes mixed the meal with other vegetables such as squash, beans, and corn; also the seed was eaten for a snack. There are references of extracting the oil from the seed and using the oil in making bread.
Non-edible uses include purple dye for fabrics, body painting and other decorations. Other parts of the plant were used medicinally things such as snakebites and other types of body ointments. The oil from the seed was used on the skin and in the hair. The dried stalk was used as a construction material. The seeds and plant were commonly used in ceremonies.
For more interesting facts and lore or good ideas for Thanksgiving centerpieces please visit our home page at www.thanksgivingcenterpiece.org
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I have sunflowers and small maroon flowers in the galvanized buckets screwed to the spindles. by Christmas i’ll change to fake magnolias and grapevine and baby’s breath,etc. oh yeah, grapevine door wreath with same sunflowers etc.
Thank Your Pollinators for Your Thanksgiving Harvest
Some of the important crops that require insect pollination include almonds, apples, alfalfa, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, pears, plums, squash, sunflowers, tomatoes and watermelons!
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