Sunflower

The  is an essential sun-producing plant. The Sunflower can be upgraded to the Twin Sunflower if bought from Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies that produces twice as much sun. In the music video played upon completing Adventure Mode, a Sunflower sings most of the lyrics, voiced by Laura Shigihara.

The Sunflower is based on the Helianthus annuus, or common Sunflower.

Suburban Almanac Entry
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

Description
The Sunflower looks almost exactly like a real sunflower, only with a cartoonish feel and a happy face. It produces 25 sun every 24 seconds. Just before releasing sun, the Sunflower's face will light up in a bright yellow shine.

Strategy
The Sunflower is the primary sun producer throughout the entire game. For a typical level, it is recommended to have at least one full column of Sunflowers at the left of the screen, although two columns may be better for certain strategies. Zombie distribution between rows on difficult pool levels leaves the pool much safer, so in some situations it may be safer to concentrate the Sunflowers there. 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.

If Catapult Zombies are present, then plant Umbrella Leaves nearby to protect the Sunflowers from their basketballs. Sunflowers that are endangered by Digger Zombies are typically protected by Pumpkins.

Giant Sunflower
Giant Sunflowers are plants seen in the Cancelled Mini-game Big Time. It costs 50 sun, and it is a large Sunflower. It gives out double sun, much like the Twin Sunflower.

Big Time
In the cancelled mini-game Big Time, Giant Sunflowers appear alongside Giant Wall-nuts and Giant Marigolds. These Giant Sunflowers are functionally identical to Twin Sunflowers. The only differences are that Twin Sunflower is an upgrade plant and it costs more. If the player views the Sunflower in the Suburban Almanac while playing Big Time, it will be a Giant Sunflower.

Trivia

 * Giant Sunflowers are cheap but produce suns as same as Twin Sunflower but cost less, so Twin Sunflower is a more expensive version of the Giant Sunflower, and is useless here.

Trivia

 * The Sunflower is one of only two plants that verbally speak, with the other one being the Squash.
 * The Sunflower produces sun after approximately 20 bounces.
 * The Zombatar tab of the Plants vs. Zombies official website features a Sunflower with yellow hair.
 * 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 massive multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft features a Sunflower pet.
 * The Halloween event from the Facebook game "The Sims Social" features a Sunflower in Bella's room.
 * The Sunflower is one of the four sun-producing plants in the game, the others are the Twin Sunflower, Sun-shroom and Giant Sunflower.
 * It is the mascot of the plants.
 * In the first night level when you pick the Puff-shroom but not the Sunflower, you 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?".
 * The Sunflower and the Puff-shroom are the only two plants that have special warning messages. Both are in the first night level when you are playing Adventure Mode for the first time.
 * This, along with the Sun-shroom, Twin Sunflower, Flower Pot, Lily Pad, Plantern, Marigold, Coffee Bean, and Gold Magnet, Giant Marigold  and Giant Sunflower has neither offensive nor defensive capabilities.
 * Sunflower appears in Crazy Dave's single Wabby Wabbo along with Squash and Stinky the Snail.
 * The Sunflower plush has a Sun-shroom growing sound effect, which is odd since Sunflower doesn't have that sound effect.