Plants Always Win
Ep. 37 Sunflower vs. Sunchoke
It’s the versus episode they said couldn’t be done.
Well, okay, not sure who “they” are, but something has certainly been conspiring against it. We first attempted an episode on sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, in the fall of 2024, before Plants Always Win was launched. It got left on the cutting room floor. Then in September of this year we recorded a proper Sunchokes vs. Sunflowers face-off, spending two hours in the recording studio.
We later found out that Sean’s audio had quit after six minutes.
But if you’re reading these words, we have finally succeeded! With the last of the warm autumn sunshine, we are bringing you sunflowers vs. sunchokes. Or, to put it another way, annual sunflowers vs. one of their many perennial sunflower cousins. Both are native to North America, and both are prolific food crops. The first, though, has been bred for its seed while the second is used for its tubers. And only one of them was at the centre of a $25 million scam that threw parts of the United States and Canada into an uproar in the 1980s.
Find out which one that is one by listening…and then reach out by email or social media to tell us which sunflower YOU feel won this week’s plant face-off.
The Horti AwardsVote for Wait Like a Seed at bit.ly/hortiawards. Scroll to the very bottom and select it from the Books drop-down menu. You don’t have to vote in every category.
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CitationsSunflower etymology
Sunflower - Etymology, Origin & Meaning. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/word/sunflower
Sunflowers as composite flowers
Common sunflower. (n.d.). https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/helianthus_annuus.shtml
Sunflowers in Ontario
top Native Sunflowers for Ontario Gardens — In Our Nature. (n.d.). In Our Nature. https://www.inournature.ca/sunflowers-of-ontario
The too-many-to-read-out traditional uses of the annual sunflower
USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center. (n.d.). ANNUAL SUNFLOWER. https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_hean3.pdf
Sunflower oil chemistry and uses
Sunflower oil. (n.d.). Science Direct. Retrieved September 30, 2025, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemical-engineering/sunflower-oil
Growing sunflowers
Spengler, T. (2023, February 10). Sunflower planting pros and cons. Gardening Know How. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/gardening-pros-cons/sunflower-planting-pros-and-cons
Allelopathy
Allelopathy. (n.d.). Science Direct. Retrieved September 30, 2025, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/allelopathy
The world’s tallest sunflower
Associated Press. (2025, September 15). World’s tallest sunflower blooms in an Indiana backyard as a tribute to Ukraine. Spectrum News 1. https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2025/09/15/world-s-tallest-sunflower-indiana
Anishinaabe use of sunchokes, a.k.a. Giisisoojiibik
Geniusz, M. S. (2015). Plants have so much to give us, all we have to do is ask: Anishinaabe Botanical Teachings. U of Minnesota Press.
The Jerusalem artichoke multi-level marketing scam
1980s Farm Crisis: Origins, myths and realities: Jerusalem artichoke miracle crop was a sign - Agweek | #1 source for agriculture news, farming, markets. (2023, June 12). Agweek. https://www.agweek.com/business/1980s-farm-crisis-origins-myths-and-realities-jerusalem-artichoke-miracle-crop-was-a-sign
The Great Jerusalem Artichoke Circus: The Buying and Selling of the Rural American Dream, by Joseph A. Amato, 1993, University of Minnesota Press, 280 p.
Identify your turfgrass
Different types of grass: Identifying your lawn’s grass type. (n.d.). Scotts. https://scotts.com/en-us/learn/different-types-of-grass-identify-your-grass.html
Timestamps00:40 The Sunchoke Curse
02:29 What's Growing On: Erin's Garden-Fresh Meals and Horti Awards
04:20 What's Growing On: Sean's 1,001 Projects and Propagations
06:00 Water Break
06:15 The Plant Face-Off: Sunflowers
07:51 About the Name Sunflower
08:13 How Sunflowers Grow
08:55 Perennial Sunflowers of Ontario
10:25 Uses of the Annual Sunflower
12:00 Sunflowers are Composite Flowers
12:45 Heliotropism and Phototropism
14:35 The Benefits of Heliotropism
15:50 Sunflowers and Allelopathy
18:06 A Sunflower Guild
19:40 Garden-Nerd D&D Tangent
24:12 The Plant Face-Off: Sunchokes
24:45 The Only Tuberous Sunflowers
25:14 Eating Sunchoke Tubers...Without the Gas
26:25 Harvesting and Managing the Tubers
29:20 Anishinaabe Communities and Giisisoojiibik
30:30 Sunchokes' Invasiveness in Central Europe
31:00 Get Familiar with New Foods You Can Grow
33:45 Jerusalem Artichoke Height and Appearance
35:49 The Jerusalem Artichoke Pyramid Scheme
42:00 Musings About Fuel from Sunflowers
45:59 Listener Question: How Do I Know What Kind of Grass I Have?
51:55 Conclusion and Contact Us
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