Four Easy Steps to Participate!
Melissodes males, Photo by Hartmut Wisch
Everyone is welcome to participate in the Great Sunflower Project. The first step is to create an account on this website. All you need is a valid email address. Then, select the level of participation that is right for you.
As soon as you create an account, we will send you free sunflower seeds. These are wild, native sunflowers (Helianthus annuus). These sunflowers can be grown in a pot on a deck or patio or in a garden. Click here for some advice on growing. If you are able to get your own seeds and want to send us data, please use the wild sunflower. We found ours at American Meadows. That ensures that we will be comparing apples to apples!
With your account, you can join our community discussions on our forum pages.
Better yet, you may participate in our study. Participating is fun and can be done in pots on your deck, your own garden, or any of our public gardens.
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Comments
Seeds
I grow sunflowers here in WA State and enjoy the bees that share them with me. which is why I've joined this project. Am I too late to the receive the seeds? We live in cold country on the East slope of the Cascade Mountains and are just beginning to plant. We are very interested in preserving the bee population due to being located in prime apple and soft fruit country as well as grapes.
Form
For some reason I can't download the form to observe so please post or send to our e-mail before we are to watch for the bees. thanks, MJS
New to the project
I am a teacher and would like for my students to participate in the project. It would be a valuable learning tool for them (Environmental Science class). Will there be enough seeds sent to supply a classroom? Thanks!
Just signed up Beekeeper from Michigan
Just signed up. I am a beekeeper from Michigan. Just wondering if I disqualify as a participant in your count. I keep 5 colonies on my property and 6 in another bee yard. Would love to be a part of this. Thank-you.
Where are my seed
I have been waiting for a month a 1 day, what should I do?
sunflower seeds
i have been waiting for 3 months and have not received any seeds? I await patiently. thank you.
have not received my seeds
Hello,
I signed up 3 weeks ago. How long does it take to receive my seeds?
patiently waiting
they should appear soon
We've had a phenomenal response and have mailed out 3000 packets so far. We decided to contract out our mailing after last week though. We had 15,000 people sign up and wow, we're sure we can't stuff fast enough. We plan to get out 25,000 more seed kits by Wednesday of next week.
Looking forward
Very pleased to be a part of the Project. My Autistic 11 yr. old son is looking forward to his part in the project. He enjoys cultivating and watching plants grow. Even taking interests in the insects that visit. This will be a wonderful opportunity for him to learn. Looking forward to participating.
Me too!
Hi Mitchell. I have an autistic son too, and like yours, he will be thrilled about participating when I tell him about this project. He's quite the little scientist.
Thank you to the PIs of this study!
just wondering
when will the seeds arrive?
when will seeds be sent
Hopefully you will get them soon. We are sending them out in the order people signed up. We had a huge response during this last week (over 11,000 people!) so, we are enlisting help and hope to catch up quickly.
flag!
Hi I am a student at the University of Massachusettes in Dartmouth. A group of students are looking to start an campus garden and sun flowers will be a wonderful starting point. I think they will be a back drop and kind of declaration of territory. There will be students to take the data and learn gardens and bees. I am very excited!
Looking forward to participating
I signed up for this project yesterday. I, too, learned about it through the Master Gardener program. It sounds like a great program and really easy to participate. I'd like to challenge more Master Gardeners in the Southeast region to join. I am looking forward to getting my seeds and the weather warming up enough to begin.
registration
I have just signed up and will plant the sunflowers and report my observations. I heard about the project from my connection as a master gardener in Missouri. Just last year I purchased my first package of bees. They seem to have survived the winter and two additional packages are on order for mid-April. I have wanted to keep bees for many years and finally have the opportunity now that I need them to help pollinate my acre of u-pick blueberries which will come into production this year.
Bees in Indiana
HI, I just signed up for the bee count! My son is very interested in bees and we are tryign to find the contact person for a bee society/club...Hive I think it should be called in Evansville or Lafayette IN. He has a degree in Biology and is now in Pharmacy School. Any bee club information in my area will be welcomed ~ Carla
Bee hives
I am near Evansville,IN. But Lafayette is 5 hours upstate, where Purdue is located. Try google for your closes city is the best way. I also heard of this project through my Master Gardengroup in Evansville,IN. I will be doing it with my grandson ,a scout . MJS
I would like a free sample
Yes I want to have the bees also.