Today we say goodbye to the beauty of my sunflowers. The tallest of the spiers was well over 12 feet high with over 15 huge blooms on one stalk. Some blooms were over 9 inches wide.
Then Wednesday a storm came through and all but one of my sunflowers hit the ground. The picture below was taken less than one minute before she snapped. The weight of even more blooms that the earlier picture proved she was no match for the wind.
The storm took out power as well as limbs and some trees. One year plus one day ago we had a derecho come through that caused massive damage to trees, crops and power. I am afraid that as our oceans warm due to human carelessness, that the collapse of that important system for the entire globe will only make our weather more erratic.
The weight of each of these blooms was almost too much to carry indoors but the are making my table beautiful for now. I had to use a heavy cut-glass vase to make sure the weight of the flowers did not pull the vase over.
But I enjoyed them so much that yes, I will plant them again next year. If you love flowers as a lot of us do, join in on Cee’s wonderful challenge of Flower of the Day. And as always I remind you of the beauty of kindness. It complements any flower of any garden.
Faith, Hope and Love are to me the top attributes to the Christian faith. Today I want to tie that in with flowers and Cee’s Flower of the Day as I show off my sunflowers, again.
When my sunflowers started growing, because I am on the quirky side, I gave them names. Some got a name change due to how they bloomed and some remained true to their name. First we have the King and Queen. The King was the first on the scene, planted by the local bird population. King kept his name due to his flower being the largest of all at 9.5 inches (214.3mm) across. While his height was less impressive, King still stands 4.5 feet (1372mm) high. He looks to be on his way out but he actually is just about fully ripe. If you look at the top you can see the seeds starting to show their heads. Soon he will be a feast for the birds.
The King
Queen is much more flamboyant and beautiful as any queen should be. While her blooms are much smaller at 6 in (152mm) she does showoff with14 blooms and she stands at 8.5 feet (2591mm).
The Queen
As beautiful as these two are, the three that guard my gate as I go in and out have been named Faith, Hope & Love. Faith is closest to the gate to refresh me as I go in and out. Hope is furthest from the gate but like his namesake, he is strong, protective and holds the three together. Love is in the middle radiating his name by reflecting his beauty with leaves larger than my hands together.
Faith, Hope & Love
These three have yet to show their flowers but their stature is quite impressive. Hope, on the far left, is 9.5 feet (2896 mm) tall showing 10 buds to share his smiles with those who see them. Faith, on the right, is a little taller at 10 feet (3048 mm) and seems to have only 1 colossal bud, which is fitting for our faith should be large and strong to carry us through any crisis we face. Love takes over the center position which is fitting as love should be centered in who we are and how we are. Love is also the tallest and the largest at 12.5 feet (3810mm) tall. Its stalk is so large that I can barely wrap my fingers around it. Love has more than 12 buds thus far and I still see buds forming because it is still growing. This is how our love should be – strong, with multiple buds and height to be seen from afar.
I am a firm believer that God shows His beauty of faith, hope and love in all things that he creates for us to enjoy and learn of His caring nature. So look at nature with a different eye and let the fullness of Christ fill you with its various forms of beauty.
And in closing, I always like to remind us all of the power of kindness. Kindness can calm, soothe, encourage and give hope for almost any situation. So remember to always be kind.
Cee’s Challenge of Flower of the Day gives us a chance to share the beauty we see around us. Flowers are a gift that we get to visually share and enjoy. Today I have one of the many sunflowers in my yard and it has a visitor.
This is one planted by the birds,
My giant varieties are out by the fence and will get shared later. And as always, remember to be kind. Kindness like the sunflower can bring about big smiles.
Spring and summer are such fun times for those of us who love playing in the dirt. Cee’s fun challenge of Flower of the Day, allows us to share this fun. I also love my birds and sometimes they help me by planting flowers with me. This year I wanted to plant a couple of sunflowers so then the birds can eat from those as we share in flowers together. So today we have “The Sunflower Collection” including one that reminds me of the story of Jack and his beanstalk. A few of these are easily 10-12 feet high but it has been so much fun watching them grow. People walking down the sidewalk always stop and enjoy them. The taller ones have not even budded out so I guess they are still growing. When fall comes and they die, I will measure them and let you know their full height.
Here is the group by my gate. My fence is 5 feet tall.
These are the ones the birds planted. Not quite as tall but lots of flowers, some not even open yet.
This one has a flower down low while it still reaches for the sky. It has a huge bud at the top.
This next one is the one I call Jack’s beanstalk. Look at the size of the stalk.
Getting under it, I was able to shoot for the sky. It gives us an idea of what Jack was seeing…sort of.
This one is easily 12 feet high
So much summer fun. I hope you enjoyed my sunflowers. I will drop off pictures as the giant ones bloom. In closing I remind us always the share the value of kindness. It does not have to be as large as a bean stalk but to the one receiving it, it may very well feel that big.
I love joining in on Cee’s FOTD to see all the flowers others post. Such a happy challenge. Today I give you what I call an old southern flower. Other places had them I am sure but when I was growing up, the older gardeners always had them.
When I bought the plant, I thought I was getting the white but it seems that there were three plants in one pot and they are all different colors – white, pink and rose. And there petals seem different as the pink and rose are ruffled or curled where the white is straight and smooth. In the south these pare perennials so I will see if they can survive the winters here in Iowa.
As you enjoy the beauty of flowers, remember the beauty of kindness and share it where you can.
When watering my yard today, it was hard to pick a favorite. So many were showing their happy faces to the morning sun. But I settled on the verbena because of its varied color and multiple blooms. Some blooms even went through the fence to be seen inside the yard.
The happy face of the Verbena
Remember to share the happiness of kindness wherever you go, it adds to the sunshine smiles of the day.
Good afternoon friends. I am combining two wonderful bloggers fun challenges into one since in fact a Hollyhock was the last picture on my card and its a flower. Which was not a far stretch would probably be a flower or my dog. Its a quiet life.
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Cee’s Flower of the Day is always a favorite during spring and summer. But since I was cleaning off my card, it was a great time for Busyboy’s World Last on the Card for June.
Hollyhocks
I loved these when I was a kid so when I saw them at the store this spring, it was a must. The bugs really love them too but we are working on that.
Remember to share kindness wherever you go. It can create a lasting effect.
Cee reminds us that Flower of the Day doesn’t HAVE to be a flower – Don’t forget that my FOTD challenge accepts gardens, leaves and berries as well as flowers.
So today I give you something I have never seen before, not that I have seen everything, but this was neat.
There were actually three of them.
I tried to find out what type of mushroom these were but found no information in the internet. They are transparent and no bigger than my thumb. The baby one to the right you can see has the umbrella look, where the bigger one has spread out it umbrella and split looking like a flower. This was in the flower bed outside of my office.
The next one came from my yard. It was much bigger, standing nearly 8 inches tall and 3 inches in diameter. With us having so much rain, it is really bring them out.
This looks like some of the water towers I have seen with the flared out bottom and the dome looking top. And yes, I know I need to cut my grass…if it would quit raining.
Come join in on the fun of FOTD and as always remember to be kind.
More fun in my yard with Cee’sFlower of the Day. Today we have one of my old favorites, Lantana. While they both have spurts of yellow, one is more prominent orangey red and the other more pinkish red.
Fun with flowers always brings a smile. Smile often, be happy and scatter kindness.
Come join in again with Cee’sFlower of the Day and share you beauties of spring and summer. Today I will finish with the flowers I took of the Rose Garden. These were my favorites because their mix of colors.
Tropical Rose
Sherbet Rose
I did not see a name tag for these last two but I think they were my most favorites. The top one looks like it has a light in it. And the bottom one speaks for itself.
And as always, remember to share the beauty of kindness.
For the Love of 