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 Awards Vote 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. Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?  Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon.  Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcast Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com  Credits Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH Citations Sunflower 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  Timestamps 00:40 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