Sunflowers are a unique and wonderful plant. With the genus name of Helianthus annuus, a member of the Asteraceae family, they were cultivated by native Americans over 3000 years ago as a food source, which has been verified by carbon dating of seeds found in ancient dwellings. Little known fact is that the sunflower gets its name from the way that the head can usually follow the track of the sun itself, with the name helianthus coming from Helios (sun) and anthos (flower), hence sunflower.

With Lewis and Clark mentioning them in the journals of their travels through the plains and other areas, its little wonder that today these versatile plants are used for everything from decoration to cooking oil production, from snacks too ..well, you name it.

Presently, sunflower production is big business in Argentina having vast numbers of acres, followed by Russia and the United States. The US, Dakota, Texas, and Kansas have miles of sunflower farms, their bright yellow petals silently worshiping the sun. You can watch for miles as you drive past the plains. The production of sunflowers is United States second largest agricultural produce, after soy beans, and is valued for its oil.

When it comes to decorating hotels or a doctor’s office, there really is not a whole lot that can be done. You really do not want to spend an overload of money on items that could be stolen or broken. You also really do not want to add too much of anything as that will require extra dusting and care which is not something that is a job anyone enjoys doing. The perfect solution is to add artificial flowers throughout the rooms you are decorating. But why purchase artificial flowers instead of the real thing?

Buying artificial flowers instead of real flowers is not just for budgetary reasons but for other practical reasons as well. But let’s start with the budget. One artificial flower display may cost you anywhere from ten to twenty dollars, depending on the size. A real flower arrangement of that size will probably cost you double that. Plus, the real flowers die and you will have to replace them time and time again. Before you know it, you could be spending thousands of dollars a year just on flowers for decorations.