I got lots of great input from everyone last winter on my desire to try a sunflower garden this year. I bought two kinds of seeds... A giant variety and a mix of different colors of a medium-tall variety. Planted about two dozen seeds in the spot where maybe 9 or 10 would fit. (Expected some would have to be thinned out and some wouldn't germinate at all.)

Well... Only two seeds germinated, and a varmint of some kind got one of those. The sole plant has finally bloomed. Problem is, it faces away from the house/yard, so I would need to stand on top of a 6-foot block wall, endangering life and limb, to view it.

So... A nagging suspicion slowly washed over me. Was Mother Nature playing a cruel trick on me, or is this what sunflowers normally do? Googled to discover most sources saying sunflower heads always face east. One reason why they're called "sun"flowers. {{{sigh}}}

I feel sorta like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football Lucy keeps pulling out from under him. Successful gardeners must be born optimists, or else there would be no gardeners at all!

Nettie Jay - what a visual of you on the brick wall trying to photography your sunflower. It makes me sad that you did not get the effect you wanted this year. It's been a terrible year for gardening most everywhere. The same thing happened to me with my sunflowers. Most of the row in the veggie garden germinated and have bloomed.......notice the "most" of them. The groundhogs or something ate part of them. The ones I planted in front of the deck never even germinated. I don't think it was you or me, it's Mother Nature telling us that she is still in charge.

Yes, the heads face east...old wives tales say the blooms will follow the sun like a rotation, but that's wrong.

Wishing both of us better luck next year.


ve

Well ladies, mine didn't act like yours. Mine were volunteer from the wild bird seed stored nearby...they faced west cause the house was to the east of them!
The came up, grew, started to lean, I propped them up, then the stems broke just below the heads cause the heads were toooooo heavy. I let them grow as long as possible and then cut the heads off & laid them out for the house finches...they cleaned them out in almost no time at all! The seeds were mostly formed but still green for sure!

Aw, Nettie, so sorry your experiment was such a bust. I didn't realize that about the sunflowers facing east either. We gardeners learn all the time. Try again next year...and best of luck with them. I agree, tho, I think Mother Nature had a lot to do with your problems. She definitely is in charge.

Nettie,

Thanks for the info on the sunflowers. They are such a happy-looking flower in the garden. I hope you try again for more of them.

Good Luck!