Friday, July 19, 2019

Flowers on Friday


I thought it would be nice to plant a few sunflowers around the perimeter of the garden. The flowers are enjoyable, and I really like having the seed heads for the birds in the fall. Because there are so many different types of sunflowers, I read the seed packet carefully (or so I thought) and chose a dwarf variety that grew to about four feet tall.


 I think I misread.
The flowers are pretty, but these have shot up to eight or even ten feet tall. 



The petals are different shades of red and yellow. I would cut a few, but I can't reach them! I haven't seen any sign of seed heads yet, so I don't know if they will show up later or not. I think I will need a saw to cut them down in the fall because the stems are quite woody and thick. 



It's kind of nice to go out in the back yard and see the sunflowers towering over everything, even if they aren't what I thought I was planting. I guess flowers are magical!

15 comments:

  1. LOVE! My neighbor plants several dozen of these and the birds do love them! They are such stately garden sentinels. Yours look so lovely (and I love the bits of lacework that bugs have created on the leaves!)

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  2. I think those are awesome even if they aren't what you expected!

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  3. So beautiful Bonny! Ours are all the short variety...and most came up from seeds from our bird feeder last winter - the birds are always messy! I love the red ones.

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  4. They sure are! I had a couple of volunteers show up in my flower boxes so I transplanted them. They look like they'll be the normal 6-7 foot variety - hopefully with big fat seed heads! I think yours are great!

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  5. You must feel like you're in a magical kingdom, maybe like Alice in Wonderland when she shrank and everything towered above her. We usually have sunflowers all over our community garden, but this year there don't seem to be many.

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  6. They are fabulous! We had some about the same size a couple years back and saved many of the seeds (at least we saved what was left after the birds and squirrels got to them). The stems were pretty tough to cut down at the end of the summer, but they seem to have composted well.

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  7. I love sunflowers but can't grow them here in Florida where I am. I miss those and lilacs, my very favorite. Enjoy!

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    1. I am! But you have gorgeous bougainvilleas and poinsettias growing outdoors in Florida, so that almost makes up for missing lilacs and sunflowers!

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  8. Oh my, I love those!! You must marvel at them every time you go out there.

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  9. It is to laugh - how funny! Makes the best story and I look forward to the next installment. Do enjoy! and have a great weekend. Stay cool!
    Cheers~

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  10. Flowers are magical and these make me smile. I hope they produce some seeds for the birds - I bet they will. The story makes me smile.

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  11. I love them! The seed heads will appear at the end of the season. They are like Jack's beanstalk, they are so tall. I want to grow some, but I just never get around to it. I have a friend who grows them, cuts them down, hangs them upside down to dry, then harvests the seeds for herself and gives the birds an occasional intact seed head hung in the trees.

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  12. Those flower colors are gorgeous. Think I tried to plant some once, but only a few survived. Still, they we're gorgeous

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    1. I'm enjoying them every day (and so are my neighbors since they are taller than the fence)!

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  13. oh my. what a mixed blessing! the blooms are spectacular, but the stalks so thick they'll need to be sawed ...gives me pause. Still, the blooms are spectacular, especially against a blue sky ... and I hope you can figure out a good way to harvest the seeds.

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