Oak Glen, CA
ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY LYNNE TUCKER
Sunflower Lane at the Wildlands Conservancy Oak Glen Preserve in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains.
Best Time For California Sunflowers
The best time to enjoy and pick California Sunflowers depends upon the year’s temperature and rain fall. Sunflowers usually peak towards the end of June, early July. However, several of the sunflower farms in Southern California have late-blooming sunflowers, which means September or October is the ideal time to visit.
Did you know each giant Mammoth sunflowers can grow up to 12 feet tall and produce up to 2000 seeds?
The big, bright yellow petals attract bees to pollinate the flowers. Once the flowers are pollinated, the plant puts all of its energy into producing seeds. The petals will shrivel up and fall off and the flower’s center will begin to bulge and grow as the seeds develop.
The flower head will become so heavy with seeds that it will fall over from the extra weight. Once the flower looks like it is completely dead, and the white “fuzz”is gone from the flower head, revealing the black and white seeds, the flower is ready to harvest.
For more information visit
https://wildlandsconservancy.org/preserves/oakglen
Saturday-Friday 800A-530PM
Think We Are All Golden Sunflowers Inside🌻🌻🌻
