Here is a short story about that very connection:

True, field-grown sunflowers—with their robust stems, pollen-heavy centers, and massive heads—are strictly a late-summer and autumn affair.

As the petals fade in September or October, the heads dry out and provide seeds for birds or human snacks. Sunny’s Great Climb: A Sunflower’s Story

It is important to distinguish between cut flowers and growing plants. While you can buy bouquets of sunflowers at a florist year-round, they are almost never in season locally during the spring. Spring sunflowers are typically grown in greenhouses or imported from warmer hemispheres.

Sunflowers are inextricably linked to the "Back to School" and Harvest season aesthetic. They appear alongside pumpkins, hay bales, and apples in seasonal decor because their life cycle aligns with the harvest.

As the air turned crisp in , Sunny’s bright petals began to shrivel and fall. He wasn't sad, though. His heavy head was now bowing low, filled with hundreds of new seeds—each one a tiny "Sunny" ready to wait for next spring. A goldfinch landed on his shoulder to take a snack, and Sunny knew his summer work was done. Key Sunflower Facts

Seeds go into the ground in mid-April to late May , once the danger of frost has passed.