The Jungle, Goldfinches, & the 4th

Good afternoon, everyone, and for those in the US – Happy Fourth of July.

Each country has its own way of celebrating its major milestones, and ours seems to be parades, cookouts, and the most dreaded…fireworks. I am not a fan of the loud noise from fireworks, especially when in the hands of the average person, who shows a careless disregard for people and pets. Even though we are a young country, only 250 years old, it is an important celebration, so I grin, bear it, and give my dog calming chews.

With the freedom we have in this country, we have many opportunities to share in what we DO love. For me, one of the major things is planting colorful flowers; however, this year it got kind of out of hand with the overabundance of the sunflowers turning the yard into a jungle.

I literally cannot get to my front gate without moving the sunflowers aside. While I laugh about it for now, I am looking forward to taking them all down to enjoy the potted plants. I will not allow it to take over next year. However, the sunflowers did help keep the potted plants from getting completely cooked by the high heat we had a couple of weeks ago, but the jungle effect is causing confusion for the birds. I had my first fatality of a Northern Flicker this morning against my front picture window. The reflections of the flowers in the glass gave the bird a false sense of how far she could go. I was heartbroken. I will have to get something put on the glass to keep the birds safe.

The gold finches are loving the sunflowers, which is why I have let them grow. There are multiple male and female goldfinches in the yard throughout the day. And as the flowers begin to seed, there will be more birds.

The house finches are abundant as well, but they prefer the feeder to the sunflowers.

I hope you are enjoying your summer and the nature that surrounds you. Remember the value of kindness with all of nature. Sharing it helps us all to be better people.

A Sunflower’s Life

The green bud stays tight until the opportune time

When its petals peak out during the warm daytime

They open slowly as they stretch for the sun

Knowing their short life has finally begun

The bees come close to taste the nectar they offer

Collecting each flower’s gifts to fill their coffer

Once the nectar had dried up, the petals began to fall

It then turns its energy into the best gift of all

Nestled deep in its core resides the gift of new life

Be it a new plant for spring or food for wildlife

The sunflowers’ legacy is not just for show

If it gets knocked down, it continues to grow

Watching the determination of a sunflower’s strife

We must always strive for the beauty of life.

Remember that one of the most beautiful attributes we can have is kindness. Try to use it often, even when others are not being kind to you.

More Sunflowers

Surprisingly, I still have sunflowers. Over the last two weeks, we have had some rough storms with high winds and heavy rain. Because these are accidental plantings and not deep-seed plantings, they don’t have a good soil base. Therefore, wind is not their friend. We have more rain coming in tonight. These flowers are currently propped up with snow markers (those tall sticks that mark curb locations so the snowplows won’t hit them). But these sticks are helping them be steady, sort of.

You cannot really tell, but this sunflower has fallen forward, and is supported by the flower pot on the white base.

This grouping, in the center of the yard, is falling into the flower in the above picture. It is currently being supported with snow sticks and a bird feeder pole. It has the second-most blooms per stalk, at 32.

The sidewalk flower, called that because it blocks my sidewalk, has the most flowers at 65; most are still green, but all this rain is only helping them to create more blooms.

The reason I allow them to grow wherever they are is that they attract Goldfinches, a favorite bird of mine. These birds will start eating these flowers before the seeds fully develop, but they do love the fully developed seed pods as well.

They come to my yard each year, knowing I usually have sunflowers. The house finches with their bright red heads love the feeder, and don’t mess much with the flowers.

The surprising things about sunflowers are their determination. They remind me of mankind that can get knocked down but stands up again, determined to survive, reaching for the heavens and their creator.

Even though this stalk is broken, it can still feed and is creating a bloom bent on the other end, where it is reaching toward the sky, determined to survive.

Sometimes life is hard, and it is our determination that keeps us going. That being said, it is the kindness of others that helps sustain that determination. Always be kind, as you never know what light you may shine for others.

Shades of Yellow

For the past several years, I have enjoyed the grand size and beauty of sunflowers. However, this year, due to medical concerns and knee replacement surgery, my gardening was scaled back significantly. But the birds disagreed with my decision and scattered seed from their feeder in various places in the yard.

With my daughter taking care of the yard, nature moved faster than she did. But I have thoroughly enjoyed nature’s course until a storm came through, knocking the tall majestic plants to the ground. Since they had not fully matured and bloomed, I had my daughter lean them against the fence, hoping they would continue to bloom…and they did.

To me, the sunflower is a wonderful example of resilience in the face of storms and continued proof of God’s intricate design through all of creation. As we look at the single bloom, we see a happy flower sharing its gifts not only to us, but also to the bees and the many goldfinches that seem to love these flowers.

When you look closely, you will see that the sunflower is filled with tiny florets, each with a pollen-filled stamen.

As the bees move across the flower, they pollinate the individual florets, creating the sunflower seeds that the goldfinches love.

So, as you watch the beauty of nature, remember God’s plan for you is just as intricate as it is for a simple flower, a bee, or a bird, and remember to always be kind.

Be Resilient Like Nature

Life can be hard on a good day, but it is those trying days that give us strength. Sometimes God shows us proof of His loving resilience for us through nature. Those who read my blog, know that I have a thing for sunflowers. This was my sunflower from last year.

At one point it had over 50 blooms. But this year I have not been as lucky as we have had some crazy wind storms. My one tall sunflower was growing at about five feet tall when wind broke in half. But ‘Patience’, my one resilient sunflower now has 3 buds. I named it Patience because it is proof of the resilience of nature as it lifts its face to the heavens for the sun and like all flowers do, to show off their beauty to God. Here you can see how the storm knocked Patience to the ground but she refused to stay down.

Her stem is bent and shows scar tissue but still she grows

In 2 Corinthians 12:9-11, Paul reminds us that in our weakness we can be strong as long as we lean on Christ,

⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Another example of weakness takes on a little different turn. One of the storms this week took down a huge oak tree by our church. While studying the trunk as they finished cutting it down, I saw that the tree was weak on the inside with disease and carpenter ants.

Look how the tree tried to curl it’s trunk around its disease and continue to grow. The trunk’s hole, if you look at it just right, looks like a heart.

I plant to fill that hole with dirt and plant some thrift in it to cascade over the edge of the trunk still showing the beauty of the tree.

While our lives may be hard, somewhere in all that trial, God still sees beauty, even if we don’t. So, don’t give up when it gets hard, but reach for God’s hand and let him show you your beauty in weakness.

And as always, remember to be kind, it shows your inner beauty.

FOTD, October 5, Sunflower Tree

Cee reminds us with her Flower of the Day challenge that flowers are indeed worth having their own challenge as they challenge each day with their beauty and grace.

While I have shared my sunflowers several times, the early morning sun shining through the trees and this particular sunflower “tree”, it seemed that it needed to be shared again.

It really is a single stalk and it is now in full bloom where some of the older blooms are dying and going to seed, but still, it remains eye-catching. I have neighbors who come by on their walks to stand there for a few moments to look at it.

Nature is amazing even in bad weather but this morning is beautiful with the first feeling of this year’s cool autumn air. It will get warm again but at least this is a start. In all that you do, remember to always be kind. It can warm a much-needed heart on a cool autumn day.

FOTD – September 12, Big

Cee’s Flower of the Day always has something new and colorful…I tend to be a broken record. But I dearly love sunflowers. This particular flower came up on its own. Last year when I cleaned out all of my spent sunflowers, I stacked them hear at the edge of the sidewalk so that I could take all of them with one haul to the trash. And all it takes is one little seed to create this 11′ beauty.

She has multiple limbs with multiple flowers growing on them. I counted 38 blooms ready to shout their beauty to the world. The leaves are huge checking in nearly 13″ across.

And her flowers shine brightly against today’s bright blue sky.

I have noticed that the varieties that have giant blooms usually only produce 1 bloom but then the varieties that have smaller blooms have many blooms. George, the sunflower at church (Yes, I name him because he got so many compliments), had 55 blooms. He was trying to make up for the seeds that the squirrels ate at planting.

I did not plant any of the sunflowers that came up in my yard. It was a very busy spring for me. But the birds made sure I was taken care of because the Goldfinches love these flowers.

As summer leaves us by turning into fall, we remember the beauty we have seen this past year with anticipation of next year. But each season carries a beauty of its own and we should remember to carry kindness into each season. Some need kindness more in the cooler seasons so try to always share your kindness wherever you go.

Kindness leaves others encouraged.

Let you Kindness fall in all the little spaces in between.

FOTD, September 7, Flowers Gone By

As fall seems to be finally coming in, we say goodbye to the abundance of color. Well, that is not true as fall colors are stupendous, but the many colors of flowers are fast approaching their winter nap.

As I was watching TV the other day, I saw this strange white thing floating in my slowly dying sunflowers so I went to investigate. What I found was an industrious spider had created a web from the evergreens to the drying sunflower blooms and the exploding dandelions of fall had met their match with the spider’s web.

When I looked at it again this morning, I saw that the spider was still growing its web and even more seedlings had been trapped. But it was an interesting and beautiful thing to see. All season have their beauty, you just have to change your perspective.

I saw some seedlings stick on a dying bloom and thought they were beautiful in their own way and thus was inspired to write a silly poem for them.

Dandelion

My arms reach out guiding me as I go

Sent up into the air where we don’t know

What is this destination of a life we show

When the wind just blows us to and froe

Next spring we awake from cold-hard ground

Coming up anew to our new home found

We show off our flower, it’s bright and round

And while it is beautiful, it makes not a sound

I close with a reminder to always be kind even when someone is not being kind to you. Your kindness will plant a seed that hopefully will grow into kindness as well.

All photographs are my own. Please do not use them in any form without written permission. Anita/Anitashope.com

FOTD, August 11, Garden Circle

At the beginning of this summer, my church tried to plant a sunflower circle but the elements and the pests(rabbits and squirrels) were in disagreement with that happening. We were hopeful for one plant trying to make it but an early storm broke him off at the base. So I bought marigolds, daisies, and other plants to at least fill in some of the outer ring of the circle with hopes for next year. Thanks to Cee’s fun challenge, we are able to share these beauties.

We did have two sunflowers make it to ‘maturity’, but the drought stunted their growth to about five feet in height but at least they are blooming. YAY!!

They are such an interesting color, kind of burnt orangey red. The rest of the flowers in the circle are low and trying to survive from the crazy crabgrass invasion. This fall we will do a better job of laying grass and weed stopping cloth and a new layer of mulch. Enjoy some of the rest of our flowers in our circle of hope as they show their beauty to all who walk by.

A six-petaled yellow daisy. I so love the daisies and mum type flowers because they have many tiny flowers as the center.

I also love the many variations of marigolds. We put the bright yellow ones around this circle to help with insect control and to bring in brightness like the sun.

And last but by no means least, the orange and pink lantana, always a favorite. I think they are supposed to be yellow and pink but they have a definite orange hue to that yellow.

It is still just August, so plenty of time to share your flowers. Share them often to help all of us smile. A smile is the least expensive way to share kindness and joy, so smile often and always be kind.

FOTD, July 16, A Redo

A few days ago I posted a flower that was upended before opening by a storm. I was hoping it would bloom inside. So today I thought I would show you the bloom as it did finally fully open. I give you a burnt red-orange sunflower…never seen this color before.

I tried several angles to show off the color but this seemed to be the best shot. The petals almost look brown but looking close you can see the orange. And the pollen is bright yellow and long. You can see in the closeup below how long the pollen stems are plus it gives you a closeup of the petal color.

Flowers can be an amazing journey as you visit gardens or try “mystery” seed packets like what this one came from. The bloom size is not huge but its effect is.

Have a beautiful quiet Sunday and remember to be kind.