How to Grow a Three Sisters Garden with Sunflowers

Nothing is more enjoyable than walking out into my backyard to see a mile-high tower of sweet corn and sunflowers staring back at me. I can’t believe how quickly it all sprouted up, too! Growing a three sisters garden with sunflowers has honestly been one of the easiest plantings I’ve ever done, and I’m so happy you’re here to learn what I’ve discovered along the way.

Seasoned gardeners and rookies alike eventually come across the three sisters garden with sunflowers. It’s a natural progression of your gardening curiosity, no doubt! I’m certainly no gardening professional, but after watching the success of my first time planting this three sisters garden with sunflowers, I had to share.

I’m really excited to see this harvest–the three sisters garden vegetables are going to be harvested and canned. They’re the most popular vegetables in my house, so we’ll definitely appreciate a big yield! Plus, nothing is better than fresh sweet corn, roasted on the Traeger with some homemade butter.

Who are the Three Sisters?

The method of planting corn, beans, and squash together has commonly been known as the Three Sisters. The three sisters garden layout isn’t an actual who, it’s more of a what. 

Indigenous agricultural practices have long been revered for their ability to sustain and nurture entire communities. It’s truly impressive when you start to dig into it. Their reverence for the seasons, seeds, and sustaining community through agriculture is something to be sought after. 

Diohe’ko, the Three Sisters, has been cultivated by the Seneca (an Iroquoian tribe in and around western New York State) for at least 500 years. Not only was it an agricultural endeavor, but the Three Sisters was also, and is, a cultural and spiritual construct for the native American people. These three plants were given to the Iroquois people when the body of Sky Woman’s daughter sprouted them, granting the gift of agriculture to the Iroquois nation.

For further reading on the incredible history of the Three Sisters story, please check out this website and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

The Other Sister

Writing this makes me feel like I’m talking about Cinderella, in the way that her step-sisters talked about her. hah!

While the Three Sisters garden typically refers to companion planting sweet corn, climbing bean or pole beans, and squash, there are other plants that happily grow alongside the trio. Sunflowers happen to be one of them! 

The benefit of growing sunflowers alongside the Three Sisters crop is that they offer shade to the plants below. They are stunning to look at, they attract pollinators, and their seeds are delicious. 

Did I mention their seeds are delicious? Stay tuned for a post on roasting your own sunflower seeds! Once mine bloom (I’m patiently waiting), I’ll be sure to update.

I took a simple approach to it and planted several sunflower seeds along the edge of my raised garden bed on the southwest side. Was that the right plan? Who knows. I’ve never planted sunflowers before! Live and you learn.

What to Plant for Three Sisters Garden with Sunflowers

I’m in zone 10b, and if you’re not familiar with the USDA Plant Hardiness Zones, check it out and report back. You’ll need this information to determine when you should be planting your new seed friends. And don’t forget to check out this post on organic fertilizers for your garden! 

Ready to plant? Let’s move on.

It’s pretty straightforward, and best if you don’t overthink it. (I tend to do that when I’m planning out my square-foot gardens each season!) Simply put, you need sweet corn, any variety of climbing bean or pole bean, and squash seeds. 

The whole idea of planting these three crops together is that each provides something that supports another. Here are some examples:

• The corn stalks grow tall, giving the runner beans something to climb.
• The beans pull nitrogen from the air and deliver it to the soil, for the others to use.
• The squash provides ground cover to keep pests away and prevent weeds from growing.
• The sunflower plant also provides shade and attracts pollinators.

They all work together to provide a tremendously successful harvest.

 A couple of additional notes about the crops you choose:

• Beans should be runners, NOT bush beans (we want them to grow up the corn stalks after all!)
• Don’t plan a zillion squash seeds unless you’re prepared to store them. They tend to multiply like rabbits.
• Plant the corn a week or two before you plant everything else, in order to grow them tall enough for the pole beans and squash to start climbing.

Three Sisters Garden Square Foot Garden

I have a cute little 8’x4’ square foot garden that I’ve been rotating crops through every season. It has really been a delight having it. It’s big enough to serve my family while we’re living in the city and gives me a little taste of bravery as I attempt new crops, and growing methods, and stumble along the way. 

In my 8’x4’ raised bed garden, I planted the three sisters’ garden crops like this;

• Corn was planted in mounts, in rows, from end to end in the garden
• Sunflowers were planted at the west end of the garden, in a single row
• Climbing beans were planted 2 per quadrant, at the feet of the sprouted sweet corn
• Butternut squash was planted in mounds, in three of the four corners of the raised bed garden

When I planted it, I took a YOLO approach, hoping that it would all work itself out. So far so good.

I’ll be adding updates once my garden starts to produce its harvest. Stay tuned!

Will you try planting a three sisters garden? Let me know! I’d love to hear how it goes for you.