Sunny Life Cycle

Just to give you an idea of how it starts and ends for the sunflower...

The seeds sprout rather quickly. They like a warm sunny environment and moist soil - be sure to water them regularly.

Look for a spot that gets full sun when transplanting them to the ground (or to a pot). Be sure to keep the soil moist. I watered my plants thoroughly every morning before the sun came up. They doubled their height every eight days or so...

Here you can see the beginnings of the sunflower head...

Getting bigger...

And bigger...

What you're looking at here will become that back of the flower. Inside these folds are the pertals tucked down with the tips touching in the middle of the seed head (see next photo).

Now beginning to open...

In bloom...

At the end of its life cycle, the sunny drops its head (and eventually its seeds).
 

The life cycle for my sunnies spanned roughly two and one-half months. I planted seeds the last week in May and the first week in June and had flowering sunnies by the second week of August.