‘Sunday Thoughts’ ~ Sunflowers
“Light-enchanted sunflower, thou Who gazest ever true and tender On the sun’s revolving splendour.” ~ Vincent van Gogh
Good morning, dear friends. I trust this finds you well and enjoying these last days of spring. Even though many days feel as though summer has arrived, it is still a few days away.
With summer comes the arrival of sunflowers. A lovely plant, but often overlooked by gardeners. Most likely this is because of their size and often a garden does not have space for such a large plant. Although, there are now dwarf varieties such as Little Becka, Teddy Bear, and Firecracker. Just to name a few. Sunflowers not only add beauty to our gardens but the birds and bees love them too.
“Come with me into the field of sunflowers is a better line than anything you will find here, and the sunflowers themselves far more wonderful than any words about them.” ~ Mary Oliver
Leanne Potts, writer for “HGTV Magazine,” tells us that, “Sunflowers have long tap roots that need to go several feet into the ground, so sunflower plants prefer loose, well-drained, somewhat alkaline soil with a pH of 6.0 to 7.5. The bright yellow blooms are like a smile on a stalk. Growing sunflower plants is easy because they’re heat tolerant, pest resistant, and fast-growing. They’re native to North America so they can adapt to conditions in most locations. You can use them as cut flowers, leave them on the stalk for a gorgeous outdoor display in your garden, or harvest and eat their seeds.”
“Sunflowers are sun worshipers that grow best in spots that get six to eight hours of direct sun per day. No plant says summer like a sunflower.”
Should you be interested in a few botanical specifics, their botanical name ~ helianthus annuus, common name ~ sunflower, hardiness zones ~ 2 to 11. In the language of flowers, they signify adoration. A more recent meaning is a world free of nuclear weapons.
Additionally, they are the national flower of Ukraine and the state flower of Kansas, known as the Sunflower State.

“A sunflower field is like a sky with a thousand suns.” ~ Corina Abdulahm-Negura
“Who knows what may lie around the next corner? There may be a window somewhere ahead. It may look out on a field of sunflowers.” ~ Joe Hill
“The morning glories and the sunflowers turn naturally toward the light, but we have to be taught, it seems.” ~ Richard Rohr
“. . .Which makes it ironic my favorite flower isn’t even indigenous to the British Isles, let alone Yorkshire. I don’t think there’s anything on this planet that more trumpets life than the sunflower. For me, that’s because of the reason behind its name. Not because it looks like the sun but because it follows the sun. During the course of the day, the head tracks the journey of the sun across the sky. A satellite dish for sunshine. Wherever light is, no matter how weak, these flowers will find it. And that’s such an admirable thing. And such a lesson in life.” ~ Tim Firth
“Every day I walk out into the world to be dazzled, then to be reflective.” ~Mary Oliver
“The sunflower is mine, in a way.” ~ Vincent Van Gogh
“I am working with the enthusiasm of a man from Marseilles eating bouillabaisse, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to you because I am busy painting huge sunflowers. ” ~ Vincent Van Gogh
“When van Gogh paints sunflowers, he reveals, or achieves, the vivid relation between himself, as man, and the sunflower, as sunflower, at that quick moment of time.” ~ D. H. Lawrence
“Van Gogh’s paintings of Sunflowers are among his most famous. He did them in Arles, in the south of France, in 1888 and 1889. Vincent painted a total of five large canvases with sunflowers in a vase, with three shades of yellow ‘and nothing else’. In this way, he demonstrated that it was possible to create an image with numerous variations of a single colour, without any loss of eloquence.” Note: This information is from the Van Gogh Museum.com and the photo of the painting is from pixbay.
“Sunflowers are like people to me.” ~ Joan Mitchell
And perhaps, they are to her too.
With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now in the third month, the sunflower stands not only as the national flower of Ukraine, it now has an additional meaning. People around the world are embracing the bright bloom as a symbol of solidarity with the beleaguered country.” ~ Antonia Mufarech
Dear friends, I do hope you have enjoyed your visit.
Know I wish you and yours a beautiful and peaceful day.
May your week ahead be filled with joy and kind souls.
Amour,
Sandra
“Like a single sunbeam on a warm summer day, there is an exuberance and brilliance in a sunflower.” ~ Unknown
Images: Tumblr, pixbay