Driving along many a highway in the Midwest, one can enjoy the cheery faces: sunflowers dancing in the breeze, waving to passers-by, signaling the passing of the daylight hours as they turn from east to west.

In the garden, few plants offer as diverse a range of color and form as the sunflower. Dwarf varieties with single or bi-color petals and lustrous green leaves may grow alongside double-flowering mammoth varieties with pillow-sized pubescent foliage.

According to dated remains that have been found in North American archaeological sites, sunflowers have been cultivated on the continent since 3000 B.C. The center of origin for wild sunflowers is considered to be the western plains of North America. The ancestors of the sunflowers we cultivate in our gardens today have been traced to the Missouri and Mississippi River valley areas. According to the National Gardening Bureau, the first breeders of sunflowers appear to have been the Ozark Bluff dwellers, who selected plants and seed for cultivation.

American Indians dwelling in the Midwest region of the United States lightly roasted sunflower seed and then ground the seed into flour for use in breads. Later, Spanish explorers, while looking for gold and treasures in the New World, collected flora samples from this continent. They introduced the sunflower to Europe for its ornamental qualities. The first published record of the sunflower was in 1568 by the famous Belgian herbalist Rembert Dodoens. By 1616, the sunflower was common in English gardens.

Today we enjoy sunflowers in many forms: flowers for the garden, seeds for snacking, vegetable oil in our salad dressings. Seeds are very high in many minerals, vitamins and essential acids. For some, the only drawback is that they are high in calories. Sunflower seeds are high in protein – about 24 percent of the energy and nutrition from the seed can be attributed to proteins. They are higher in iron than any other food except egg yolks and liver.

Grow them for their function or form or any reason you can think. Sunflowers are a cheery reminder that gardening can create wonder, year in and year out.