August is for sunflowers! I love all the tiny little flowers gathered together into one great big sunny ring of yellow.
(Wikipedia says there are 1,000-2,000 little flowers per head and that H. Vogel proposed in 1979 that the polar coordinates of their arrangement is modeled by r = c sqrt{n}, theta = n times 137.5^{circ}.)
Our community gardens are full of many 15 foot tall sunflowers this year. They stand above the fence tops. The sparrows, goldfinches and chickadees are singing as they flit among them.
Ah! sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller’s journey is done;William Blake P. 1793
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Wow the sunflower is lovely!! Does it look bigger in picture or is that really the actual size?
Sunflowers are amazing, the outside yellow petals are the male flowers and the inside (obviously where the seeds form) are the female flowers!
Kacee that's cool – are you sure? I think since there's pollen on the inside flowers and seed, that these are both male and female. I read somewhere the outer ones with petals are infertile females. But its hard to find a reliable source. I never thought about this. Very interesting.
And about the size, which on my monitor is actual size about 3 inches – Its bigger than that. The head of this flower is about 12-15 inches across.
This is so beautiful. Thank you.
Very pretty! What temperature does it need to grow and how long did it approximately take for it to grow? I'm debating if I have enough time to grow them now.
I love sunflowers. I had one just pop out of nowhere for me this summer.