As the summer garden has slowly died and made way for the last blooms, the sunflower is one of the flowers I miss the most. There are several varieties which have grown in my garden. It was featured in one of my favourite movies- Under the Tuscan Sun- a sweet film based in Tuscany, Italy. Vincent Van Gogh's famous painting of Sunflowers is etched in everyone's mind due to the enormous price tag it obtained in modern times.
Sunflowers are grown around the world and can be a national- Ukranie or state flower- Kansas. They are the source of food- sunflower seeds, cooking oil and even used to feed domestic animals in some countries. In our area there used to be fields of sunflowers as not all the farms grew corn. Housing developments have grown instead. Hopefully, the homeowners will plant some sunflowers and keep some local tradition. On many occasions I have observed bees pollinating our flowers, our little gold finches eating the nectar and once the flowers are mature our squirrels trying to eat them and if not stalked properly, they snap the heads off. I just like the flower as it can be the tallest flower in the garden along with the hollyhocks. It is a happy flower- gira a sole- turns to the sun. In a good year my husband, Adolph has planted a nice row to border the vegetable garden- before the squirrels attack, of course. Do you have sunflowers in your garden? Do they have any meaning for you? Is there another flower that brings joy to you?
Can there be too many sunflowers in our lives?
I just looked at the trailer for "Under the Tuscan Sun". Two statements stood out: 'Life offers us a thousand chances. All we have to do is take one'. 'Unthinkable good things can happen, even late in the game'.
ReplyDeleteOh, and yes, I like sunflowers, too!