The best thing to do with sunflowers is to grow and enjoy them. They make Excellent cut flowers if you have a big enough vase.
Other uses for sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) include the following:
- Seeds - as a food used raw, baked, roasted, salted or not salted.
- Seeds - can be used for feeding seed-eating birds.
- Seeds - can be made into butter (like peanut butter) or made into bread.
- Seeds - oil is extracted for cooking, margarine and biodiesel.
- Seeds - when oil is extracted, the remaining "cake" can be used for cattle food.
- Flower - ornamental plant for flower or vegetable gardens.
- Plant - produces latex and may be source for nonallergenic rubber.
- Stem - contains a fiber that can be used in paper production.
- Leaves - can be used for cattle feed.
- Roots - used in phytoremediation to extract poisons from the soil.
- Native tribes also used the sunflower as a medicinal ointment.
