I had never grown sunflowers in my garden until last year when some towering specimens from a neighbour's garden appeared over the fence.

My children were seriously impressed by these sunny giants and insisted we immediately planted a colony of our own.

We did, with impressive results, and we are now hooked on them. Sunflowers are irresistibly cheerful and so easy to grow. Van Gogh realised it a long time ago and now everyone wants a pot full of sunshine in their house.

Sunflowers are now so popular as cut flowers that worldwide production has had to be quadrupled to cope with the demand.

Sow seeds now and you should have your first cut flowers within 60 days. Get the children involved - give them some seeds to plant in a windowsill pot, and watch them grow.

Annuals come in yellows, ranging from lemon to gold, as well as pink, red, cream, buff and brown. They will grow in virtually any soil, as long as it is well-drained, but ideally they should have heavy loam and full sun.

For towering blooms, grow Russian Giant, Giant Single or Giant Yellow which can reach 3m (10ft) tall with flowers 25cm (10in) across.

For something slightly shorter, go for Sungold Double or Sunburst at 1.2-1.5m (4-5ft), or Velvet Queen which grows to 1.5m (5ft) and has dark red blooms.

For something smaller, try double-flowered Teddy Bear, which grows to 70cm (28in) or Music Box at 60cm (24in).

If you want to grow them in a container, go for Big Smile, which grows to 40cm (16in).

For cutting, try any of the following: African Sunset, Floristan, Giant Sungold, Moonwalker, Sunrise, Sunset, Valentine or Vanilla Ice.

Plant two seeds in a small pot about 1cm (half an inch) deep. When the seedlings push through, nip out the weakest. Add a stake if they get too tall.

Once the risk of frosts has passed - usually by the end of May - they can be planted out in a sunny spot in the garden. Space them about (30cm) 1ft apart.

You can plant straight into the soil about 1cm (half an inch) deep. Remember though, sunflowers will always turn towards the sun, so be careful to position them in a spot where you - and not your neighbours - will see them.

Water them regularly when young and if your garden is windy, stake them. If you want to cut them, do it after they come into bud and they will open in the vase. Give them a little cut flower food and they should last for at least two weeks.

Once you've grown your first bunch, you won't need to buy seeds again. Each flower head can produce up to 1,500 seeds. Make sure you harvest them before birds do it for you. Even if you keep 100, there should still be plenty for the birds to enjoy.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.