Russian Giant
The one children want to grow. Sow it early, stake it properly, and give it the most sheltered spot you have.
This is the sunflower people picture: a single thick stem well over head height carrying one enormous golden head. Russian Giant will pass three metres in a good year with rich soil and full sun, and it is the standard choice for a which-one-grows-tallest competition. In Ireland it is also the variety most likely to end the season lying across the lawn, because a heavy head on a hollow three metre stem is exactly what an August gale is looking for. Grown with a serious stake and some shelter it is a spectacle worth the trouble.
Quick facts
- Botanical name
- Helianthus annuus
- Type
- Open pollinated
- Category
- Tall single-headed
- Difficulty
- Easy, good first crop
- Hardiness
- Half hardy, protect from frost
- In Ireland
- Grows outdoors unprotected
- Germination
- 5 to 14 days at 15 to 22C
- Sowing depth
- 2cm
- Spacing
- 45cm apart, 60cm between rows
- Height
- 3m
- Position
- Full sun
- Containers
- Grows well in pots
- Sowing to flowering
- 11 to 18 weeks
- In flower
- August to September
Sowing and harvest calendar for Russian Giant
Months shaded below are the reliable windows for Irish conditions.
Where to buy Russian Giant sunflower seeds in Ireland
Irish suppliers that stock this, so postage stays domestic and seed arrives in time to sow. These are plain links, not paid placements.
Garden centres and mixed retailers
- Mr Middleton Irish Eighteen sunflower varieties, the widest choice here Mail order arm of a long established Mary Street shop, carries the familiar named varieties the organic specialists skip. Visit Mr Middleton , Co. Dublin
- Johnstown Garden Centre Irish Large branded flower seed range Third generation family business near Naas with the widest branded range, though popular varieties sell out by midsummer. Visit Johnstown Garden Centre , Co. Kildare
Why it suits Ireland
It suits Irish gardens on soil and rainfall and struggles on wind, so the honest answer is that it depends entirely on your site. A walled town garden, a sheltered courtyard or the lee of a hedge will grow a magnificent one. An open field boundary in the west will not, and no amount of feeding changes that.
Our long mild autumn is a genuine advantage. A giant sunflower needs a lot of weeks between germination and a filled head, and the Irish season, though cool, is long enough at both ends provided you start in March rather than May.
Growing notes
Sow indoors in March, one seed per 9cm pot, and keep the seedling in the brightest window you have so it does not draw. Pot on into a 1 litre pot if it outgrows the first before the weather is right, since a pot-bound giant loses height permanently.
Plant out from mid-May, after hardening off over a week, into ground with plenty of compost or well-rotted manure dug in. Plant deep, up to the seed leaves, and firm the soil hard around the base. Allow around 60cm between plants and give them full sun for as much of the day as possible.
Stake at planting. Water deeply through dry spells, since a plant this size uses a great deal of water and a check in growth shows up as a shorter final height. A general purpose feed in June helps.
Keep slug protection on longer than feels necessary. A giant sunflower lost at 10cm tall in late May cannot be replaced in time to reach any real height.
Once the head has finished, leave the plant standing rather than clearing it. The seed feeds finches through the winter and the stem is doing no harm.
Common questions
How tall will Russian Giant actually get in Ireland?
Three metres is achievable in a sheltered sunny garden with rich soil and an early indoor sowing, and plants over that are reported most years. In an exposed or shaded garden, or from a late May sowing, expect closer to two metres and a smaller head. Height comes from an uninterrupted growing season, so the plants that do best here are the ones sown in March, never allowed to dry out, and never checked by cold or slugs.
What stake does it need?
Something far stronger than a bamboo cane. Use a 2.4m timber stake, a length of batten or a metal fence post, driven at least 45cm into the ground on the windward side, and put it in on the day you plant so you are not driving a stake through the roots later. Tie the stem to it loosely every 40cm as it grows, using soft ties that will not cut into the stem when it thickens.
Can I eat the seeds from Russian Giant?
In principle yes, these are the large striped seeds sold for eating and for bird feeders. In practice an Irish summer often fails to fill them, and you rub out a head of flat empty husks. If the seeds are plump and dark, dry the head thoroughly indoors before storing, because seed put away damp goes mouldy fast. The birds will take them either way, so a failed seed harvest is not a wasted one.
More sunflowers to consider
Velvet Queen
Open pollinated / Branching, cut flower
The best all-round sunflower for an Irish garden. Short enough to stay standing, and it flowers for months.
Growing notes and stockistsTeddy Bear
AGMOpen pollinated / Dwarf double
The sunflower for a container, a balcony or a small child, and the only one that ignores Irish wind entirely.
Growing notes and stockistsLemon Queen
Open pollinated / Branching, pale lemon
The one to grow for bees and for cutting. Soft lemon flowers over months rather than one loud yellow head.
Growing notes and stockists