Sunflowers (Helianthus annus) are popular annuals because not only do they provide beauty to a garden but they also serve as a food source for animals like birds, squirrels and humans. They also seem to have a special place in the hearts of people who don't even garden and be found replicated in many mediums from t-shirts to paintings. They've even sort of become the icon of Green ideology. This spring my sister gave me a packet of sunflower seeds she received at the gas station when she filled up her gas tank at BP.
