Suddenly last week – and I do mean suddenly, as in overnight
– my enormous backyard sunflower plant did two things at once. First, it drooped
over and lost its stature as the tallest non-tree plant in my neighborhood. And
immediately thereafter, it exploded.
OK, it might have taken another day. But within hours, the plant had gone from having a few
lonely sunflowers at the very top where no one could see them, to being this sunflower
I think it got tired of being appreciated only for its height
and decided to bend over and show me what else it could do. And now I know the identity
of this amazing plant. It is indeed the ‘Lemon Queen’ variety handed out by our
friends at Your Garden Show, as part of their citizen science project to track bees.
I haven’t seen any bees, but man, do I have some blossoms. And
I don’t think you could find a more heat-and-drought tolerant flowering plant
anywhere. As you can see, it’s a forest of flowers.
So, that offer of seeds – if the birds don’t get to all of
them first – still stands.
And once again, I am filled with awe and wonder for the
miracles of daily life. Just when you think things – in the garden, in
relationships, in life – are going one way, shazam! A corner is turned and an
entirely new game opens up.
L’chaim!
