Thank you for sharing your experience with your sunflower. It made me look at my own sunflowers. I have been neglecting my garden harder than usual this growing season and yet… and yet, it grows and provides a surprisingly abundant bounty. It’s easy to focus on the weeds, the pests, the perpetually underwatered plants, but within the mess, there is so much beauty, so much life. My messy, neglected garden is filled to the brim with happy pollinators and songbirds. I seem to startle a northern alligator lizard every few days, or a frog. Dragonflies hover and the butterflies flutter about. Hawks soar overhead. The slugs are abundant, sure, but so are the bees. The good is there, you just have to take a moment to really see it.
PS. I’m a firm believer that ANYONE can garden. Maybe not everyone can have a huge, perfect English cottage garden or an urban farm, but anyone can grow a bit of something. Whether it's a few pots of herbs on a balcony or a single sunflower grown in a raised bed with some squash. My friend has an tower of lettuce in their elementary school classroom with some grow lights. It’s all a learning process with trials to be expected to see what will grow within the space they have, but it’s possible. I don’t think any gardener has 100% success all the time. I think most serious gardeners have their own “white whale” whether it’s the perfect tomato, a juicy watermelon, a bountiful cherry tree free of disease, that they will likely never reach. Everyone struggles with something, but we tend to only share the highlight reel. I’ve harvested huge colanders full of beautiful tomatoes, but I also have come across ones that split in the rain or have bites taken out from the squirrels and mice. I still consider them a success. I’m glad you found success with a sunflower. I hope you try again. <3
Thank you for sharing your experience with your sunflower. It made me look at my own sunflowers. I have been neglecting my garden harder than usual this growing season and yet… and yet, it grows and provides a surprisingly abundant bounty. It’s easy to focus on the weeds, the pests, the perpetually underwatered plants, but within the mess, there is so much beauty, so much life. My messy, neglected garden is filled to the brim with happy pollinators and songbirds. I seem to startle a northern alligator lizard every few days, or a frog. Dragonflies hover and the butterflies flutter about. Hawks soar overhead. The slugs are abundant, sure, but so are the bees. The good is there, you just have to take a moment to really see it.
PS. I’m a firm believer that ANYONE can garden. Maybe not everyone can have a huge, perfect English cottage garden or an urban farm, but anyone can grow a bit of something. Whether it's a few pots of herbs on a balcony or a single sunflower grown in a raised bed with some squash. My friend has an tower of lettuce in their elementary school classroom with some grow lights. It’s all a learning process with trials to be expected to see what will grow within the space they have, but it’s possible. I don’t think any gardener has 100% success all the time. I think most serious gardeners have their own “white whale” whether it’s the perfect tomato, a juicy watermelon, a bountiful cherry tree free of disease, that they will likely never reach. Everyone struggles with something, but we tend to only share the highlight reel. I’ve harvested huge colanders full of beautiful tomatoes, but I also have come across ones that split in the rain or have bites taken out from the squirrels and mice. I still consider them a success. I’m glad you found success with a sunflower. I hope you try again. <3