I had to post about this because it was kind of fun! I collected four heads from two plants last night that I'd left age on the plants.

They still had the seed the birds had left behind, or not much. Maybe 10-20 seeds out of the 500 or so per head.

They're huge, easy to get out of the heads, and fun to watch drop into the bowl. Definitely not the struggle that salvia seeds can be!

I'll viability test them after they dry completely and go through a cold period in the garage (which isn't going to be today!) and see what I got, if anything. Buying new ones isn't an issue, but it's more fun to make plants into heirlooms as long as they aren't bred cultivars and not patented.

I got a head the birds missed. It has to dry, but it can do that in the cellar just fine.

Turns out they were dry enough and the seeds rubbed off easily. I'd ask if anybody needs about a thousand seeds, but I have no idea what the viability is and I'll do seed testing before even thinking of giving these away.

I keep thinking about that. Birds eat the seeds. Bird digestion is notably bad. Each sunflower--fifteen--is producing about 5,000 seeds on 20-30 blooms per plant (Teddy Bears). Net result: Lots Of Sunflowers In 2012. In some very odd places.

I'd like the jumbos, something like a nice Russian Mammoth, but don't really have anywhere to go with them.