Grow gigantic flowers

Planting Skyscraper-Sized Sunflowers For the Little Girls Next Door

A tiny story of birds, bees, little girls, and an old man who likes to see people smile.

Sunflowers are the happiest flowers on earth.

From the time I was young, I always enjoyed sunflowers. Their towering majestic height. Peering over fences. Keeping watch over us. All while playfully looking down at us making sure we were happy. Always smiling at us.

Is it any wonder that sunflowers are regularly depicted on clocks, dishes, and other various items?

Birds, bees, and sunflower seeds

When I started putting bird feeders out, I bought black oil sunflower seeds for them. Black oil sunflower seeds are smaller and easier for the smaller birds to crunch than the big gray seeds.

Some of the seeds would end up on the ground and sprout. It was the first time I learned there were different types of sunflowers. These only grew five feet tall but produced many more flowers than the tall variety I grew up seeing.

They were still fun and happy, though. Just miniature.

Bees came to pollinate when the flowers first bloomed. Later the goldfinch birds came to pick the seeds out of the flower face. Sitting on my back porch watching this show was quite enjoyable.

The sunflower stealing neighbor

I have neighbors with 3 little girls next door to me. The wife and I were talking one day. She told me she loved my sunflowers and had thought about coming over to steal some.

I laughed and told her she was welcome to steal them anytime she wanted. I buy 50-pound bags of seed to feed the birds. I’ll always have more flowers and seeds to grow them.

Our conversation gave me an idea of what to do with an area I had intended to plant some blueberry bushes. I would plant sunflowers there instead. Give my neighbor and her 3 tiny girls something to be happy to look at when they looked outside.

The mission

Going to the store to buy seeds, I found there were many varieties of sunflowers. This confused me even more. Which should I buy?

I decided to pick three different varieties. All different sizes and colors. One variety I picked was said to grow 10 feet tall. The other two would be 4 to 5 feet tall according to the package.

I had a smile on my face. This was going to be fun.

First I had to put up some chicken wire fencing so my goofy dog wouldn’t trample the seedlings when they sprout. I could see him going to the bathroom and then wiping his feet on the wood chips in that area. Goofball.

The desired effect

The little girls next door would tell me about their flowers as we waited on the sunflowers to grow.

We were all surprised. All the plants grew taller than five feet, even the variety that was only supposed to grow four feet tall. They were fun, though. With many flowers on each plant, there was more than enough happiness to go around.

What was more surprising were the sunflowers that were to be 10 feet tall. They were inching more toward 12 feet. All I could do was look up, smile, and shake my head.

To the girls next door, who were 3 feet tall or less, those sunflowers had to look like skyscrapers. Dwarfing them with their size and majesty. The girls had to strain their necks to see the giant flower heads or go stand on their balcony porch for a better look.

We all got to watch the bees during pollination and the birds picking the seeds out to eat. Whenever I would come out to cut my lawn the girls would talk about the sunflowers.

Next year

I will plant a new crop of sunflowers next year. I will have to see what other varieties of sunflowers I can find. Bring some more fun and happiness into a crazy world.

Grow some sunflowers of your own. You don’t need much room. You don’t have to do much more than plant a couple of seeds. They are easy to grow. Protect them from rabbits eating them or getting trampled by the dog and you’re good to go.

Bring a little happiness into your life.

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