Sunflowers for the birds

Sunflowers that have finished flowering make a delicious seed buffet

It's lovely to have a fantastic bunch of sunflowers in your home. And you can continue to enjoy the flowers even when they've finished flowering. Instead of throwing away your wilted sunflowers, give them a second life as a natural birdfeeder in your garden. Birds love the seeds at the heart of the sunflower.

DIY sunflower seed buffet

This seed buffet is bound to attract lots of birds to your garden. You need the following:

- Two large sunflowers (e.g. Russian Giants or Russian Mammoth)
- A Phillips screwdriver
- Approximately 1 metre of floral wire

How to make this sunflower seed buffet

Step 1: Allow the sunflowers to dry out thoroughly. Place them in a cool, well-ventilated room; that will prevent them from going mouldy. Leave them to dry until the heads turn brown and the backs turn yellow.

Step 2: Once your sunflowers are well-dried and discoloured, remove the heads. Make two small holes in the heart of each sunflower head using the screwdriver, some 2 to 3 cm apart.

Step 3: Place the sunflower heads back to back so that the seeds face outwards. Insert the floral wire through the two left-hand holes and bring back through the two right-hand holes. Twist the wires together and make a loop at the end of the wire so that you can hang the sunflowers up. Find a good spot - for example in a tree or on a fence - and treat the birds to a delicious meal!