How much salt did you put down? Try flushing out the salt with copious amounts of water or dig in some new top soil. Plant some new sunflower seeds. I doubt these will recover.

I'd also plant the new seeds someplace else. Depending on how much salt you put down, it may take the soil a year or two to recover. My preferred method of dealing with slugs (and snails): put down rolled up newspapers or boards, and every morning, lift them and scoop up all the slugs. After a week of that, the population will be low enough to do little damage to your plants. Dump the slugs out on pavement for the birds to enjoy!

If you put a lot of salt down and it is confined to a small space I'd dig the soil out in that area and replace with fresh. Flushing it out would lead to more soil having salt in it that may cause problems too.
The empty skins of citrus fruit left by the plants seems to work well her in the uk. next morning the slugs etc are inside the skin and can be easily dealt with. Beer traps also work well. Sink a cup/can up to the rim in the soil and fill 3/4 full with some diluted beer or lager. Said slugs etc love it fall in and drown. yucky to dispose of but effective.

Welcome to GoY too. :o)

I had an accident with some salt (the bag of stuff they sell for getting rid of ice on paths, split as I was carrying it) last year. The plants in that area died, as one would expect. However, ones I planted later on to replace them have all survived and are now growing well. So, it is not a total disaster for you. Mind we did have an awful lot of rain last year to wash away the salt.

The salt sold for ice removal is calcium chloride, which is much less toxic to plants than table salt (sodium chloride). Also, salt is a shorter term problem in climates with high rainfall, but Pgarrett hasn't told us what climate he or she is in, yet.

I was never certain if the beer traps just kill the slugs, or attract more slugs.

Thank you everyone. I didn’t put a lot of salt down. It rained some afterwards. Yesterday I watered really good and gave them plant food to try to help bring them back. They aren’t dead yet but some of the leaves are and a couple of the plants are. I’m hoping they come back.

Well, Pgarrett, everyone has a different definition of "not a lot". Are we talking about 1/4 tsp., or 1/4 cup? Over how much area? Old gardening books that recommended using salt on slugs normally instructed the gardener to put a tiny pinch directly on the slug, rather than broadcasting it over the soil indescriminately.

According to a talk I attended many years ago, from a guy that worked for the RHS, lemonade in beer traps is more effective as slugs like the sweetness. Keep the beer for the gardener (or under gardener)

With the beer traps, unless they actually drown--not a given--they'll wake up in the morning, and wobble away home to a bloody mary and raw egg.

Tugbrethil, the 2 flower beds are about 2’x3’ each and less than a 1/4 cup on each bed.

Not bad, but not good. Lots of water is the key, and a little limestone would probably also help, assuming that the soil isn't already limey.