This year has been an absolutely amazing year for sunflowers! I don’t think I could find a single flower that sums up summer as perfectly as a sunflower does. Their big jolly heads just scream summer and heat when ever I look at them.
This year, I am pleased to say, has been an exceptional year for them and they are putting on a stellar display of colour and interest. I don’t know if it is the fact we actually have sun to go along with our sunflowers here in Ireland but they seem to be even more radiant.
I had noticed this year too that any of the sunflowers I have seen have had mulptiple flowers on them. So not only have they been looking great but they have been working hard too!
I am not the only one to notice this, Miss Emma from Crafty Garden Hoe ( I just love the name of her blog!!) put up a great post about sunflowers. She too has noticed that they have been producing more than the one usual flower head and have instead been sent out flowers all the way down their stems. I don’t think either of us would complain about it but just found it interesting.
Of course it is not just the flowers that look attractive. I find the seedheads that are left behind just as alluring! When I grow them myself I like to leave the seedheads and just allow the birds and other wildlife in the garden to feast of the looth of seeds.
Some of you, who are able to look beyond the sunflower and its lovely petals, will notice the sunflower I took photos of is growing in a greenhouse! I would also like to point out it was also grown from seed by a very cool 5 year old boy! It also did its job of attacting pollinating insects in to the greenhouse to help with our tomato growing!
My Name is David Corscadden and I have just finished my degree in horticulture from UCD. I have a keen interest in wildlife friendly gardens or as I like to call them “Wild Gardens”. I have in the last year taken a u-turn in what I thought I would do after college. I have moved more in to the literature side of horticulture and plan to do a masters in journalism next year.
Source: Beyond The Wild Garden – The Summer of Sunflowers – David Corscadden
