The sunflower with multiple flowers is en vogue in many gardening circles these days. However, my wife and I certainly didn’t even know these types of sunflowers existed until a few days ago. You see, we had a bunch of extra bird seed and decided to throw it into a wildflower patch on the side of our house. Of course, this birdseed mix contained a ton of sunflower seeds. Throwing old bird seed into the flowerbed is something we do every spring. It usually helps give our yard a little extra color, not to add the random wheat stalk or two.

We’ve done this for years now. And we invariably get at least a few handfuls of sunflowers that emerge from the scattering of bird seed. No surprise, as sunflower seeds usually comprise a sizable bulk of mixed bird seed. It’s the kind you might buy at the grocery store or home-improvement warehouse. What was the surprise? Several sunflowers came up with multiple flower heads!

The pollinators love them! So do the birds, which flock in as the sunflower seeds start setting. But what’s up with these sunflowers with many flowerheads? They were new to my wife and me. We hadn’t even seen them at any of the botanical gardens we have visited by that time.

Why Does My Sunflower Have Multiple Flowers?

The sight of these beautiful sunflowers with many little flowers popping off the top left my wife and I scratching our heads. What did we have? They really were sunflowers, right?

My wife and I are older Millennials… We’re old enough that we remember being kids and growing what we might call more “traditional” sunflowers – the kinds that grow five, six, maybe seven feet tall and spawn just one big, bold flowerhead at the top. What did we have on our hands here?

Well, this really had me doing some digging. After all, I may be a longtime gardener, but I’m not an expert when it comes to flower varieties; this is especially the case when it comes to sunflowers with multiple flowers!

As it turns out, there are some newer sunflower varieties that grow a multitude of smaller flowerheads on little branches.

What Kinds Of Sunflowers Grow Many Flowers?

Now that we knew we had legit multiheaded sunflowers growing in our yard, we wanted to find out what kind of sunflower they were – per chance we could grow more?

There are many kinds of sunflowers that produced multiple flowerheads, including branching sunflowers and sunflower varieties with flowers in orange, burgundy, and other colors.

They include:

• Buttercream – This branching sunflower is quick growing and doesn’t have any pollen (hear that, fellow spring allergy sufferers?)
• Mammoth sunflower – This fast-growing sunflower sends off many flowers on a single stem.
• Maximilion sunflower – This is a perennial sunflower variety that grow multiple sunflowers on each stem and is common in wildflower mixes.
• Rouge Royale or Moulin Rouge – Another pollenless, branching sunflower variety, this one has burgundy-colored flowers.
• Sonja – This branching sunflower has small flowerheads on sturdy stems, making it a good choice for those who want to cut their own sunflower bouquets.

How Do You Grow Multiheaded Sunflowers?

Like most sunflowers, those that send out multiple flowerheads need plenty of time each day in a full-sun location. Ours are getting a good six to eight hours of full sun most days (not counting the rainy ones!). And speaking of water, be sure your sunflowers with multiple flower heads get plenty of moisture!

Branching sunflowers take up a lot more space than single-stalk sunflowers! If you’re planting sunflowers with multiple flower heads or branching sunflowers, find out what variety they are. And make sure each type has the space it needs. Remember, some might need only one or two feet of space, while large varieties can consume 10 or 15 feet.

Sunflowers thrive in rich soil, and my wife and I add routinely add compost into our annual flowerbeds. Some sources will tell you to add fertilizer but be careful… A little fertilizer is usually OK, but too much can inhibit a plant’s nutrient growth and weaken the plant, leading to pests and decay. I’ve usually had pretty good luck sprinkling sunflowers with a little bit of Miracle-Gro every now and then.