Sunflower

The Sunflower is the first sun-producer that the player acquires. In the music video at the end of the game, Zombies on Your Lawn, a Sunflower is the lead singer (voiced by Laura Shigihara).

The Sunflower is based on the Helianthus annuus [1].

Usage
The Sunflower is the primary sun-producer throughout the entire game, although sometimes replaced with the Sun-shroom for nighttime levels, and often upgraded to the Twin Sunflower in later levels. It produces one normal amount of sun, worth 25 sun, approximately every 24.3 seconds.

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



Strategy
Since sun is the form of energy required to grow your defense, producing more sun means you'll be able to grow a much larger force. With that in mind, you'll typically want to have at least one full column of Sunflowers (5 or 6 of them, depending on which Area you are playing in), and some players prefer two columns.

As Sunflowers do not ever do any damage, they must be protected. Putting them in the back row (the leftmost, closest to your house) is good practice. However, some people put them in front of their ranged offensive plants (like Peashooters) as a last line of defense before their offensive plants (which they put in the back) get eaten, giving them more time to kill the zombies.