Sunflowers

My new garden is a very different space. It's all about the sunshine. This garden is very sunny and this has proven to be very challenging for propagating. My cuttings and gentle plants like my impatiens burn and quail; but for the first time, I am growing sunflowers. And not by design.These flowers have popped up where we throw out the dregs of the birdseed. All the sunflower seeds that the lovebirds have discarded have magically reincarnated in my garden.
And they are growing their own seeds. Many different varieties have sprung up. Some are daisy-like with many flowers while others are the classic one-headed sunflower. I am curious to see how quickly they will re-seed themselves. It will also be interesting to see if they perform as well in the rainy season which arrived today right on schedule.
One of the most interesting things about sunflowers is the spiralling patterns that flow both clockwise and anti-clockwise from the centre of the flower. Below this lizzy-dizzy pattern lie the immature seeds - a veritable sunflower-seed factory with snazzy packaging.The flowers have not lasted very long - maybe a week before they begin to droop.

I love the fact that this flower was once a seed in a bird cage.