Sunflowers

Being originally from Kansas, I like sunflowers (Kansas' state flower). Tall, huge flowers, or bushes of small flowers filling up the ditches, I like 'em all. And thankfully, there are plenty here in Oklahoma as well.


Filling the ditches ...





By the roadside ...




I planted three kinds of sunflowers in our garden this spring - Mammoth, Lemon Queen, and "Assorted." Many of the Mammoth ones bit the dust already, due to strong wind I think. The Lemon Queen ones may do OK, we'll see. But the row of "assorted" sunflowers on the other side of the garden seem to be remaining intact for the most part. You can see the plants here in a long row to the left of our younger Son. None of these in the garden have bloomed yet ... they're still growing in the pre-bloom stage.




MEANWHILE ... we have a birdfeeder in the front yard. I throw some regular birdseed out on the ground, which has a little bit of sunflower seed in it. Then I also throw out some straight sunflower seeds, since we have a pair of Cardinals around, and they like that kind. The ironic part - several of these seeds around the birdfeeder have sprouted into plants, and are doing better than the ones in the garden! I rooted out a whole handfull, as I didn't really want a forest of them, but I'm leaving a few around the birdfeeder to grow and mature, just for the interest. And so, we have one about to bloom!



Closeup - you can see the yellow petals starting to form and show, even before it's bloomed. I'm excited!