You may not be aware that despite the fact that you find postcards, photos and paintings of sunflowers all over Provence, they are actually native to the Americas. Sunflower seeds were brought to Europe by Spaniards in the 16th century where sunflower oil became a widespread cooking ingredient.
Sunflowers have rough, hairy stems, and what most people call the flower on a mature sunflower is a flower head of numerous small flowers crowded together. The outer flowers are sterile and the flowers inside the circular head mature into seeds from which oil is extracted.
Sunflowers generally grow to between 5 and 12 feet tall and bloom from late June to the end of July with harvest occuring at the beginning of August.
A common misconception is that sunflowers track the sun. In fact mature sunflowers typically face east and do not move. The leaves and buds of young sunflowers do change their orientation from east to west during the course of the day; once mature the movements stop.
You may not know that the Jerusalem artichoke also called sunchoke and topinambour, is a type of sunflower. It is cultivated in temperate zone for its tuber, which is used as root vegetable and delicious roasted or in soup.
Its hard to not pull over to take pictures when you come upon a field of sunflowers. Sunflowers give off a sense of happiness, like little suns shining on a perfect summer day.
If you are in Provence during July, make sure you stop and snap a picture or two of yourself in one of the sunflower fields you will surely pass by.
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