About The Project
The Science Behind the Great Sunflower Project
As you sit at the table today, do you know where the water you are drinking came from? 85% of the drinking water in San Francisco comes from the Sierra. How about the last prescription medicine you took? It probably originated from a natural source. Of the top 150 prescription drugs used in the U.S., 118 originate from natural sources: 74 percent from plants, 18 percent from fungi, 5 percent from bacteria, and 3 percent from a species of snake! And, where did the ingredients for your lunch and dinner come from? One of every three bites you took probably came from a plant pollinated by wild pollinators. This is just the beginning of list of the services provided by healthy, natural ecosystems.
Economists and ecologists have started working together to find a way to place a financial value the contribution of natural ecosystems to human existence. The estimates are eye-opening. For example, the value of pollination services from wild pollinators in the U.S. alone is estimated at four to six billion dollars per year. While these ecosystem services are currently produced for “free”, replacing the natural ecosystem would cost many trillions of dollars. Unless human activities are carefully planned and managed, valuable ecosystems will continue to be impaired or destroyed.
To maintain biodiversity and to meet the increasing demands for ecosystem services, we must move conservation science into cities (Rosenzweig 2003). Cities are important for conservation for two reasons. First, 80% of the United States population already lives in urban areas (United States Census Bureau 2003). Second, cities encompass about 3% of land (59.6 million acres) in the United States and 230,000 additional acres become urban each year. Because of their large human populations, cities are the places where many ecosystem services, such as environmental quality of life, are delivered (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). Given the growth of the urban population, it is clear that we need to develop the knowledge necessary for maintaining natural habitats in the urban setting and find a way to give urban dwellers access to nature.
We know that pollinators are declining in certain wild and many agricultural landscapes. However, little is known about urban pollinators. Our recent data on bumble bees in an urban setting suggests that urban bees may also be declining (McFrederick & LeBuhn 2006, Fenter and LeBuhn submitted). While the loss of these pollinators is important, it is more important to understand what effect these losses have had on pollinator services.
We do not know much about how healthy bee populations are maintained in an urban environment. Because natural habitats are uncommon in urban landscapes, they may not provide enough resources to support viable pollinator communities. However, if other habitats, such as urban gardens and restored areas, are sufficiently connected to natural habitat, then native populations may thrive.
By finding a way to track and value the goods and services provided by natural ecosystems, we will find a future in which conservation is not a luxury but a guiding principle of daily decision-making throughout the world. The data you collect from your sunflower willbe a start. It will provide an insight into how our green spaces in the urban, suburban and rural landscapes are connected as well as shedding light on how to help pollinators. What we need are innovative strategies to maximize the benefits of our wild and semi-wild habitat remnants. The Great Sunflower Project is the first step.
Comments
Is this project continuing in 2012?
Hello,
I would like to participate this year and was wondering if the project will continue through 2012?
Thanks,
Karin
Yes, we are looking forward
Yes, we are looking forward to another year of observation and engagement! Thanks for your participation, Karin.
Great project! My concerns follow
Hi, Gretchen, et.al.! I worry about the impact of the use of Roundup and how it genetically modifies seeds it comes in contact with at whatever place and stage of growth, and what impact those modifications have on the busy bees. (Of course, Monsanto seeds hold a huge place in my concerns also.) I suspect it will be having an effect on reproduction and population and health of bees as well as our food supply.
Is any of this incorporated into the project?
I'm living in Brooklyn, NY now. We have a nice sustainable gardening movement going on here. I will spread the word to the organizations I know about.
Keep it up!
Project
How long is this project on going?
Sharing The Site
I'd love it if there were a referral link to post to my blogs and or share to my social networks. Just enjoying the site.
Various Areas Does It Make A Difference?
I am in Patterson, La. It has been very hot and dry mainly then tons of constant rain back to back. The last time I attempted Sunflowers I could no even get a sprout.
Sprouts
I usually start my inside. And then transplant.
I live in NE Ohio.
RoseMary
Thanks
Thanks for allowing me to be a part. I do not know what I am doing wrong. Have no more seeds but to no avail did ANY of them even ever sprout. I do though have many and plenty of bees throughout my yard. Hope to keep it that way for pollination.
Pollen-Free Sunflowers
What sunflower varieties are pollen free ???
Does the seed package say pollen free ???
I like Mammoth and Giant Russian sunflowers. Are they acceptable ???
Hi Sir Horace, "Pollen free"
Hi Sir Horace, "Pollen free" sunflowers are hybrids that are specifically bred for the cut flower trade. Most will have "pollen free" designated on the packet, or label. Mammoth and Russian Giant are both heirloom varieties that are open pollinated,. That is, the will come true from seed and rely on bees and other insects to pollinate them. Both varieties have a long history of being used commercially for food or oil.
Let us know if you're growing them this year or have grown them in the past. They are really quite remarkable and you might even get a crop of tasty seeds if the birds and squirrels dont beat you to it!
Question about data collection alternatives
Hello Freddy B and All, I am on the Board of Directors of the Youth Garden Project, Moab Utah. http://www.youthgardenproject.org/
We are conducting our 2011 weekly summer camps for K-6 and are excited to add a section in one of the next 3 weeks of camp that includes learning about bees and conducting a sunflower observation session. We don't think there will be time to do the full protocol plus we would like each student or small groups to be able to submit the data to the Great Sunflower Project. Can someone from the Project contact me via email to set up a phone call to discuss some ideas that would make it possible to modify the prototcol and still provide useful data to the Project.
Thank you,
Pam Hackley
pammyraye@gmail.com
I have lots of bees!
I read the front page article in this morning's Marin Independent Journal. (Monday, July 11, 2011). I live in north Marin County and have a great deal of Rosemary groundcover in my front yard. The Rosemary requires little water but still grows like a weed. I do the all the gardening work at my house and I can tell you that there are tons of bees that seem to just love the blue colored flowers produced by this plant. I would not be able to count the number of bees because there are simply too many. I'm glad to have a garden that supports the bee population.
Lots Of Bees
I have a large Trumpet Vine plant along my fence (Denver Co area). It has hundreds of large two-inch red trumpet-shaped flowers. There are hundreds of bees, wasps, flies, and other insects I can't identify both large and very small.
About thirty feet away, In front of the house, we have three Russian Sage plants that have two-foot stalks with small blue flowers. I have never seen anything but lots of honey bees on the Russian Sage plants !!! Maybe the bees like the blue Rosemary and Russian Sage flowers.
Thanks for the information about the Rosemary plants. I'm going to try and grow some.
BTW, I have only seen one Bumble Bee this year !!!
Great project!
This is a great project, and it's fun to be in my garden just to count bees! I am amazed how many we have.
I would like to upload a picture, seem to have read that it is possible, but I can't find a way to upload a pic.
Thanks!
KJ
Lemon Queen or Italian White
The Italian White (from Annie's Annuals) sunflower seems to be more vigorous in my backyard (patterson, ca.) than Lemon Queen. Can we do the count on Italian White?
Yes. I like the Italian
Yes. I like the Italian Whites from Annies. Just make sure your observation flower has pollen on it and you note it down when you enter your data.
I have only just put in Lemon
I have only just put in Lemon Queen seeds. However I have other sizable sunflowers about to bloom: Helianthus maximiliani, argophyllus, mollis, and annus(v. delta). Are these acceptable? I also have many varieties of coreopsis and lots of borage that is always covered in bees.
yes, other types of
yes, other types of sunflowers are acceptable, just make sure they're not the "pollen free" kind. You can also observe coreopsis. In all cases, just let us know which plants you're observing. Have fun!
Sunflowers are huge this year
We live in northern San Diego County. I planted about 30 Lemon Queen seeds and have 15 plants between 8-12 feet tall. Each plant has around 15 blooms/buds with more peeping out daily. I have never seen them so big. What iwill happen if all the flowers get huge with seeds. Will I have to stake them or will they be strong enough to hold up?
that;s going to depend on
that;s going to depend on your stems. Mine stay up without staking, but if you are growing in windy or low-light conditions, you may need stakes to hold them up. Once seeds form, you can cut down your flowers, or leave the seed heads out for hungry birds/ I like to save some for next year.
Sunflower from black oil sunflower seeds?
I have several sunflowers growing under my birdfeeders that are growing out of the black oil sunflower seeds. Will these be good for counting bees if they grow flowers?
Lemon Queen are survivors
We've had a rocky start to our growing season here in Northern California, but my Lemon Queen sunflowers are FINALLY starting to grow. We had lots of bees early in the season, feeding on camellias and lavender blossoms. Hopefully my sunflowers will continue to survive, albeit with holes left from early hailstorms.
Wild Flowers
I have planted over 30 sunflowers and so far 7 have come up! I don't have lemon queen but I have planted mammoth, king kong, autumn beauty. terra cotta, teddy bear, italian white, peach passion and a few other varieties. I also have about 250 square feet of lawn that I've pulled the grass up on and dedicated it to wildflowers... A few sunflowers are planted in the mix there as well! I'm not sure how many sunflowers will come out of all the plantings but I'm very excited about it. Because of this site this is what my garden has inspired me to do :o) I look forward to sharing my findings! Am I allowed to record bees on wild flowers too or just the sunflowers?
Thanks!
Wow, your garden sounds
Wow, your garden sounds amazing! Good luck with the sunflowers and other wild flowers. You can use one of the other sunflower varieties if they are in bloom, to record data. Beware, though, some of the sunflowers sold at nurseries are bred to be "pollen-free" and the "Teddy Bear" types arent that bee-friendly. Please be sure to tell us what type of flower you're observing when you do your 15 minute bee count. And, dont forget, the GREAT BEE COUNT is happening on July 16th!
Bee well.
Freddy B
Do we have to use a certain
Do we have to use a certain variety of sunflower? Because I have a small sunflower in my yard that I think is a mammoth sunflower.
We suggest Lemon Queen
We suggest Lemon Queen sunflowers because they are easy to grow and work in all parts of the country. Mammoth Sunflowers are good, too. Just make sure you note that when you send in your data. The only type of sunflowers that really aren't suited to observation are the kind that are bred to be "pollen free". Bees would be wasting their time! Good luck!
just joined - 2010?
I've just joined, and I'm very interested in trying this not only at home, but also the school where I work (we run all summer) and possibly somewhere else that I volunteer. The email I received had 2010 as the date. Can I assume that the information about the type of seed and all that is correct, even if the date was not? Thanks in advance.
Want to Join
I want to join the project but I am a small scale beekeeper with my hives in my garden. Will this mess with the results?
-Pam
Want to join
hi Pam, No worries! We love beekeepers to participate. There's a spot in your garden description to let us know about your hives.
Welcome. We look forward to your participation !
Freddy B
Hives
Good to see, as we are "hive hosting" this year. I wondered if we would still be able to participate. I'll update my garden info!
Hives
Thanks for updating, Juleswsf. Looking forward to a great summer full of buzzing bees.
RIP sunflower
I got 1small sunflower in a pot from my mom in this summer and planted it in my backyard and was excited to participate in the Great Sunflower Project. It grew and blossomed and was beautiful. Within a few weeks, sadly, it died. The same thing happened to my mom's sunflower. Unfortunately I can't do the bee count, but would like to participate next year. Is it too late to try again this year? I am disappointed. : (
Counted for the first time today
Here in the SF Bay Area, we've had weeks of foggy mornings. Today, however, I woke up and the sun was shining! After church, I went out to count bees for the first time. I didn't note the day the first leaf appeared, or the day the first flower bloomed, but I did notice lots of bees today! I went out to the garden to pick a tomato and all the sunflowers had bees. I'm very excited about this project.
Community Garden
We planted Lemon Queen sunflowers in our Community Garden in late May or so. After a long cool spring, they are finally beginning to bloom! I've posted informational posters on the fence along the row of sunflowers. When most are blooming, I'll put some data sheets, bee guides and "How to Sample" sheets near the flowers and hope that our gardeners will take the time to observe, record what they see, and submit the data. I certainly will!
seeds?
I am not seeing a link for requesting seeds?
Hi from Germany
Hy there,
Your project looks awesome! I really like it. I see that it is directed to the US and Canada, now I'm looking to see if there's something similar here in Germany, if you know anything please send some links.
Still I have a lot of friends in the US and I wanted to recommend this site to them so, I'm going to use Facebook for that, I can just paste the link, but I thought maybe it is a good idea to have a "share" link on your site.
The site is really cool, congrats!
RE:SEEDS
HI I am interested in the Sunflower Project. I do not know how to have the seeds sent to me. Please let me know. Thank you Lesli Smith(leslismith04@yahoo.com)
sunflowers
what a lovely project , I just joined and I am so inspired to plant a sunflower myself! Hopefully our climate in London is not too cold!
Flowers London
Community Project
As usual, I have the cart before the horse - as part of our Great American Cleanup in March, April and May Keep Jackson County Beautiful plans to give seeds out and contract with citizens to participate in The Great Sunflower Project. I've ordered and received 5 pounds of Lemon Queen Sunflower seeds and have community service workers putting those seeds in envelopes for distribution.
Then, I happened to think, do I need permission to do this? I want to include a stipulation that participants will send a copy of their data to KJCB and I've even offered to go out to scout groups, classes, etc. to talk about bees and the project.
Would you please let me know if I can adjust your letter to include a paragraph about sending the info back to KJCB also.
Thanks,
Susan Trepagnier
Seeds
I would like to plant Sunflowers at my new home and count the bees.How do I get the seeds from your project?
Thanks
Thanks for the link to Exceptional, Ryan. Yeah, it’s a good problem to be solving and now is obviously the time for a web based exception catching app!
Internet Sohbet platform is Sohbet Odaları and Chat forever webhane page.. Rüya Tabiri and Şiirler and videolar xD
Today 4/8/20 We wsent to
Today 4/8/20 We wsent to Target store and obtained the seeds. Please Note we searched in various Garden stores and Walmarts, but we decided to try Target, low and behold here they were.
program for 2010?
My 1st grandchild died 1 year ago, today. Last year I failed to follow through with confirming on the email. I am hoping that you may be providing seeds again this year. I would love very much to participate. I was able to start a small memorial garden last year. I have plans to expand it and will have the energy to do more this year. (I have been gardening for 15 years) I enjoy seeing bees, lady bugs, even small spiders in the garden. Most important no harmful chemicals used. Also receiving the seeds and participating will be a great honor to my angel. Thank you. Please let me know.
Seeds for this year
We are providing seeds though we are asking people to contribute $3 to cover the costs of mailing primarily. We have enough seeds crushed in the mail that we need to switch to bubble wrap envelopes which changes our mailing costs to over $1 per seed packet. With over 85,000 people signed up to get seeds, that is a lot of money to raise to send them for free! I'm hoping that next year, we'll be able to reward all the people who enter data with free seeds. Keep your fingers crossed. This is a tough climate for fundraising.
Thanks
Joining the Great Sunflower Project
I just found this site while researching for this years garden. I plant a garden every year but this year my garden will have another purpose. In addition to feeding my family, feeding butterflies and bees, and educating my children, I will also take part in the Bee Count. I know my children will be excited to do this as well. I hope I see at least as many as I saw last year!
lemon queen seed
Lemon Queen sunflower seed is also available at the Seed Savers Exchange. I found that out AFTER I had ordered the seed from Renee's/
sunflower seed 2009
My Sunflower seeds never grew.
Will try again next year
My 8 year old daughter and I are very disappointed. Due to the rainy, cool summer our plants took a long time to get established and start growing. Finally, we had twelve beautiful plants growing and one night last week the deer came and devoured them all (they left their footprints). Some look like they are trying to make a comeback but I don't think we'll get any sunflowers this late since we live in NW Connecticut. We've had lots of bees in our vegetable garden though.
Edward O. Wilson
Hello,
Just signed up on this site and look forward to reporting bee activity on the Sonoma Coast. This is a great book on Edward O. Wilson, a biologist and pioneer in the application of economics and resource allocation.
http://www.amazon.com/Consilience-Knowledge-Edward-O-Wilson/dp/067976867...
Best Regards,
Scot Sier
http://www.jennerrental.blogspot.com
Counting Bees
Hello Everyone,
I have one six foot sunflower in bloom and have been counting bees this week. I have four additional sunflowers getting ready to bloom.
The seeds worked well for me.