Sunflower


 * For the primal version, see Primal Sunflower.
 * For the birthday version in the Chinese version, see Sunflower Singer.

Sunflower is the second plant and first sun-producing plant received in both main series Plants vs. Zombies games. It is a plant capable of generating sun over time, allowing the player to plant additional plants.

Origins
Sunflower's design is based on the Helianthus annuus, also known as the common sunflower. The sun in its name refers to its ability to produce sun.

Plants vs. Zombies
Sunflower is unlocked after beating Level 1-1. It produces 25 sun every 24 seconds. Sunflower can be upgraded to the Twin Sunflower after Level 3-4, provided that the required seed packet is purchased from Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies for $5000.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Sunflower is unlocked after completing Player's House - Day 1. Prior to version 1.7, Sunflower functions identically as it did in the first game, but can no longer be upgraded to Twin Sunflower. Due to the gameplay pace change from version 1.7 onward, Sunflower now produces 50 sun every 24 seconds. Additionally, Sunflower couldn't be used in the Chinese Dark Ages till 1.8 update.

Plants vs. Zombies
Sunflower

Sunflowers are essential for you to produce extra sun. Try planting as many as you can!

Sun production: normal

Sunflower can't resist bouncing to the beat. Which beat is that? Why, the life-giving jazzy rhythm of the Earth itself, thumping at a frequency only Sunflower can hear.

Cost: 50

Recharge: fast

Plants vs. Zombies
Twin Sunflower is Sunflower's upgrade. It produces 50 sun every 24 seconds, twice as much as a normal Sunflower.

Plant Food effect
When given Plant Food, Sunflower immediately produces 150 sun.

Costumed
When costumed and fed with Plant Food, it can produce either one gold coin and 175 sun or two gold coins and 150 sun.

In Adventure Mode
Heals up to 3 allies with the lowest current HP to Max HP ratio.

Plants vs. Zombies
Sunflower is the first, and the primary sun producer the player will receive. Having enough Sunflowers will allow the player to gather sufficient sun, and as a result purchase additional offensive plants to fend off the horde more easily. Its ability to be upgraded into Twin Sunflower also gives Sunflower a niche in Survival Mode, where planting spaces will be very limited and the player will need to generate as much potential as possible for every given tile. However, Sunflower will prove to be worse to Sun-shroom in Night and Fog levels, as Sun-shroom is cheaper and can produce sun faster in the early levels.

As a general rule, one column of Sunflower will be the minimum requirement for completing most typical levels, while two to three columns should allow purchasing of more expensive plants such as Gatling Pea and Melon-pult, giving the player more freedom in tactical choices. In Pool and Fog levels, the pool lanes are ideal places for planting additional Sunflowers due to the relative lack of dangerous enemies assaulting them, but the player should also be cautious against ambushes when a flag comes. Sunflowers can either be planted on the leftmost columns for the maximum possible amount of protection, or in front of offensive plants as a last line of defense, although the latter strategy may hinder plant placement as the level progresses and makes sun production somewhat inconsistent, as the Sunflowers are likely to get eaten.

If Catapult Zombies are present, plant Umbrella Leaves nearby to protect Sunflowers from the basketballs. Sunflowers that are endangered by Digger Zombies are to be typically protected by Pumpkins. A player can also put it on the second column on that case and use defensive plants in the first column.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Sunflower faces great competition for the role of primary sun production plant: Twin Sunflower has been made significantly easier to use, due to the removal of the upgrade plant system and the general ease of obtaining sun in this game, while Sun-shroom costs less than Sunflower and can grow over time, outstripping Sunflower's production capability. This is shared with Primal Sunflower, as it can create 25 more sun than Sunflower, like Sun-shroom's last stage, at the expense of 25 more sun. Moonflowers planted next to each other can give up to 100 sun each, despite of their longer recharge. Of all the four sun producing plant, Sunflower also generates the least amount of sun when fed with Plant Food, unless the plant in question is a single Moonflower. Because of this, Sunflower is generally considered to be inferior to the other four sun creating plants, especially in the Endless Zones.

Giant Sunflower
Giant Sunflowers are plants seen in the canceled mini-game Big Time. It costs 50 sun, but can produce as much sun as Twin Sunflower.

Big Time
In the canceled mini-game Big Time, Giant Sunflowers appear alongside Giant Wall-nuts and Giant Marigolds. If the player views the Sunflower in the Suburban Almanac while playing Big Time, it will appear as a Giant Sunflower.

General

 * It is the first female plant in the franchise.
 * The massive multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft features a Sunflower pet.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * The Zombatar tab of the Plants vs. Zombies official website features a Sunflower with yellow hair.
 * It and Twin Sunflower did not glow when producing sun in the iOS version. This glitch was fixed in later versions.
 * Certain limited edition Game of the Year packs contain a Sunflower figurine.
 * Sunflower-related merchandise are available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The Sunflower glasses cost 80 Microsoft Points, the Sunflower Seed Packet costs 240 Microsoft Points and the Sunflower Dress costs 160 Microsoft Points.
 * The Halloween event from The Sims Social features Sunflower in Bella's room and as a gift to players who clicked on the EA blog post of The Sims Social.
 * On the first time the player plays Level 2-1, when he or she picks Puff-shroom but not Sunflower, he or she will get a special warning message that says "Now that it's nighttime, you need Sunflowers more than ever. Are you sure you want to play the level without them?".
 * In the music video played upon completing Adventure Mode, a Sunflower sings most of the lyrics, voiced by Laura Shigihara. She also moves faster to match the beat of this song.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * It is one of the six plants seen fighting the zombies in the Plants vs. Zombies 2 trailer, the other five being Bonk Choy, Bloomerang, Peashooter, Wall-nut, and Pea Pod.
 * Even though it is the second plant, it is the first seed packet in the seed selection screen and in the Almanac.
 * It, along with Peashooter and Wall-nut are the only plants whose costumes change depending on the season.
 * They are also the only plants who do not have a permanent costume.
 * In its Almanac entry, "YouTuber" is a parody of YouTube. In addition to this, the word "tuber" in "Youtuber" means modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients.
 * "Sunflower Thinks She Can Dance" is a reference to a TV show franchise "So You Think You Can Dance."
 * It is one of the six plants to be fully recharged at the start of a level, the others being Sun-shroom, Primal Sunflower, Moonflower, Gold Bloom and Electric Currant.
 * Coincidentally, they are all sun-producing plants, except for Electric Currant.
 * It appears on the game paused screen.