Sunny Sunflower

Tiny pollinator approaching on the right.

The sunflower is such a happy flower.  I haven't grown any in the garden for years so I am appreciating that the one I planted is sprouting flowers at each stalk/leaf junction.  I am going to have sunflower blooms for a long time!

Happy Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day and I called my mom to wish her a happy MD.  We started talking and she asked me if I had any photos from the late 50s which had my mom and her Brownie troop.  I went through my box of photos and didn't find any of the Brownies but I did find this photo of my mom as a young woman.

Because sunflowers are her favorite flower, I've paired the two in today's post.

Sunflowers Provide Multiple Gifts to the Garden

I was busy harvesting the seeds of the giant sunflowers when I noticed my smaller sunflowers were blocking the walkway through my garden. I decided to select a few flowers from the plant to reign it in. These flowers look spectacular in my kitchen.

Sunflower Seeds in Abundance

My first harvest of sunflower seeds was quite productive. It was a bit of work. First, I hand picked the seeds from the flower head. Some seeds had not pollinated and those were composted. Next I sorted through the seeds to remove any flower parts which remained. After a quick rinse and dry, the seeds pod is ready to crack open to reveal a delicious nugget.

Join the Hunt for Bees

My sunflower seeds arrived from The Great Sunflower Project! I am very excited
The seed packet reminds us that Bees are responsible for every third bite of food. This project is a tracking study conducted by San Francisco State University.

I encourage you to sign up to help in this study. You sign up; they send you seeds. Plant them, grow then, record the activity of bees. Easy!

Go on, click the link.

The Great Sunflower Project for Bees

As a barefoot girl growing up in Ohio in the 1960s, I had more than my fair shares of painful encounters with bees. In a Pavlovian way, I saw the stimulus (BEE) and had a definite response (FLEE).

So why now, am I searching for bee friendly flowers and plants which will actually encourage bees to come to my garden? Well, with shoes on my feet, I know that bees are an important partner in my garden playing the role of chief pollinator. As they search for pollen for the needs of their bee society, they effectively and efficiently pollinate crops and plants providing food for man and beast. Bees are the primary pollinators of seed and fruit. True, my little plot of land is small but can be a friendly oasis to bees and other pollinators since I eschew pesticides and try to maintain an organic garden.

With this in mind, I'm ready to participate in the Great Sunflower Project. Run by San Francisco State University Associate Professor Gretchen LeBuhn, this project is requesting citizen scientists coast-to-coast participate in a bee pollination study. With the recent focus on colony collapse disorder, this data will provide the scientists with data needed to help restore bees.

As a volunteer “citizen scientist,” in this project, you participate by

1. Sign up and plant your sunflower (seeds provided when you register)
2. Describe your garden
3. Time how long it takes 5 bees to visit your sunflower plant
4. Enter your data online or send your form.

We all remember the headlines from last year warning us of the disappearing bees. I’m hoping my participation helps.

Reference