Sunflower (PvZ)


 * For more information about this character, see Sunflower

Sunflower is the second plant and first sun-producing plant received in the first Plants vs. Zombies game. She is a plant capable of generating sun over time, allowing the player to plant additional plants with ease.

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

Upgrades
Twin Sunflower is Sunflower's upgrade. She costs 150 sun and produces 50 sun every 24 seconds, twice as much as a normal Sunflower.

Strategies
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. Her 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 as possible for every given tile. However, Sunflower will usually prove to be worse than Sun-shroom in Night and Fog levels, as Sun-shroom is cheaper and can produce sun faster at 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 her in the second column in that case and use defensive plants in the first column.

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, she will appear as a Giant Sunflower.

Trivia

 * The Zombatar tab of the Plants vs. Zombies official website features a Sunflower with yellow hair.
 * She 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 is 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 they pick Puff-shroom but not Sunflower, they 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.
 * In the Java version, Sunflower is always pre-selected unless it is a night level. At that time, Sun-shroom will be always pre-selected.
 * In the Zen Garden mode, Sunflower is seen present on the Fertilizer pack.