Sunflowers Make Me Happy - by Sunscape

Look at the perfect symmetry in this large sunflower. I am always amazed at the design each sunflower makes as it unfurls with pollen. This one grew next to my little backyard pond from a seed that dropped from the birdfeeder. It is the largest sunflower head that I have ever had in my garden. I will be saving the seed from this one to grow a lot of them next spring.



I decided to take a few photos of the sunflower as it proceeded to open up each day.



All of the petals are almost fully opened and it is looking pretty nice and standing very strong on its own.



The following day it is fully open and the bees are visiting it all day long. Apparently, the pollen is ready for them to feast on.



After a few days, the entire sunflower head is full of pollen. I watched many different types of bees gather pollen every day until it no longer was viable for them.



I let the sunflower stay for another week or so before I cut the head off. It is now on the rack in my greenhouse drying out. I will be sure to plant some of the seeds next year.



Perhaps it is the color yellow that makes me feel happy, as I get that same feeling from daisies too.
These are sunflowers that I grew from seed this last spring. The package said they were "Mammoth" sunflowers. But, I have to say there was nothing mammoth about the size. The label was somewhat misleading in my opinion.



The bees are enjoying these smaller sunflowers. I only got 5 of them to grow as the deer topped many of them off for lunch one day.


This is one of my Monarch butterflies that I released into the garden. It did not take long for him to enjoy some nectar. I just adore the butterflies. So far I have released 8 of them this month and one will be hatching today as well.



I hope you have a wonderful, happy day and that you enjoyed seeing my beautiful sunflower images. Perhaps, they put a smile on your face too.

Until next time, this is Sunscape
Sun. Scape. Ing Your Day