AU Exotic Sunflowers Area & Plantation (Suvarnabhumi Campus)
As an excellent way to sincerely congratulate and extend well wishes & true happiness to the
AU graduates, the AU Suvarnabhumi Campus has been especially transformed and colorfully decorated with a variety of fresh and pleasantly colorful flowers; creating several splendid spots, marvelous areas and sections for the graduates to take their photos capturing the happiest and treasured moments in their study lives for their long- lasting fondest memories.

Generally referred to the “University in a Park” as envisioned by Rev. Bro. Dr. Pratheep Martin Komolmas, President Emeritus, AU Suvarnabhumi Campus, was originally and creatively designed to be the ideal and perfectly “International University or City”

Top-class or international standard facilities painstakingly engineered or created: standard classrooms, laboratories, uniquely and well-structured libraries, sports complexes, University Residence, food courts & plaza, international conference center & meeting halls and rooms of various sizes etc., pleasantly blended in with the lush and green natural environments conducive for endlessly sustainable teaching and learning with.

The splendid, elegantly prepared or eye-catching photo taking spots for the AU graduates will be interchangeably decorated with various sets of colorfully exotic plants and flowers for graduates’ impressive and lasting memories.

One of these ornamental various flowers specially grown at the Suvarnabhumi Campus for such purpose are the sunflowers. The brightly, distinctive yellowish sunflowers with the scientific name of “Helianthus annuus” are the only types with the flowers at the top end of the thick, hairy and erect stems.


The sunflower has the diameter of approximately 25-30 cm with numerous pedals neatly arranged in several levels. The pedals are in oval shape with their pointed triangle ends or tips with particularly intensely bright yellow colors. The flower inner part has a shape of a round plate comprising thousands of tiny florets.

Countless medicinal benefits of the sunflowers:

1. The sunflowers provide rich source of quality oil for cooking or food preparation which can help lower blood pressure cholesterol, blood sugar level and heart diseases.

2. The oil extracted from the sunflowers or their seeds have high nutritional values which are popularly used for production of various products like margarine (artificial butter), zero fat milk etc., as well as the cosmetic products like hair shampoo and hair nourishing conditioners.

3. The sunflowers can be made into various beverage products which are beneficial for health; preventing diseases or relieving cold symptoms or dizziness.

4. The sunflower seeds are eaten as snacks with high nutritional values: providing as high protein content as the animal meats, higher fat content than the flours and higher iron content than the red eggs or animal livers.

5. The sunflower seeds contain several vitamins: three times higher vitamin E contents than those of soybeans and corns and other benefits for nourishing the skins.

6. The sunflower seeds provide nourishment to the bloods, increase blood flow or volatility, preventing strokes, blood thickness or high blood pressures.

7. The sunflowers help prevent the eye cataract; maintaining good eye sights.

8. The young sunflower stems can as well be cooked as food or turned into beverage products with numerous vitamin, mineral or iron contents nourishing the brains and preventing Alzheimer or dementia.

9. The sunflowers relieve the constipation and improve the urine system.

10. The sunflowers maintain sexual capacity while helping relieve period pains or leucorrhoea symptoms in women.

11. The sunflowers help relieve bloated stomach or gas, indigestion, tight chests or diarrheas.

12. The sunflower roots also have other medicinal benefits as useful diet for diabetic patients with rich vitamin B1 and other minerals.

13. The sunflowers help relieve the feverish condition; reducing body temperature and cool down the internal body organs.

14. The sunflowers can be utilized as the fabric yellow colored dye as well as be used for decoration in different occasions or as pleasant bouquets for sick patients.


Original ideas or plans for growing the sunflowers at Suvarnabhumi Campus:

The AU Gardening Section, Physical Plant Department, Office of Vice President of Administrative Affairs, Suvarnabhumi Campus, managed by Rev. Bro. Dr. Achin Tengtrakul, Vice President for Administrative Affairs, which is responsible for gardening and maintaining decorative plants and flowers for decorating the campus surroundings & areas, opt to grow the sunflowers as they are easy to take care of with their natural beauty and brightly yellow colors; especially precious for the photo taking seasons of the AU graduates:
Planned areas or plots for growing the sunflowers:

The land plot (areas) behind the Vincent Mary School of Science and Technology with the capacity to plant about 2000 plants.

Steps or Process in Growing the Sunflowers:

1. Design the landscaped areas & plots for planting.
2. Order the sunflower seeds.
3. Establish the seed planting time frame for the desired period for flowers’ full blooms.
4. Plan the exact seeds incubating period for them to sprout.
5. Replant the young seedlings in the designed plots.

Growing timeframe:

1. Steps 1 - 2 requires approximately 2 months.
2. Steps 3 - 5 requires approximately 3 months.


Proceeding Procedures:

1. Land or plot preparation requires at least 10 gardeners for a period of 2 days.
2. The replanting steps of the seedlings requires at least 4 gardeners for a period of 1 day.
3. Maintaining of the plants requires about 2 gardeners for the whole period of their flower growing period and maturity: December 15, 2020 to February 28, 2021.