Okay, so I wanted to share what I’ve been up to lately, messing around with some flowers. Nothing too fancy, just trying my hand at growing something, you know? I decided to give sunflowers a go this year.
Getting Started
First thing, I had to get some seeds. Just grabbed a packet from the local garden shop, nothing special. Said ‘Giant Sunflowers’ on the front, figured that sounded like fun. Then I had to pick a spot. Needed sun, obviously, so I found a patch in the back garden that gets blasted most of the day. The ground there was pretty hard, so I spent a good hour just digging it over, breaking up the clumps. Felt like proper work, that did. Mixed in a bit of compost I had lying around, just to give them a good start.
Planting was easy enough. Followed the instructions – poke a hole, drop a seed in, cover it up. I put in about six, maybe a foot apart? Didn’t want them crowding each other if they really got ‘giant’. Watered them in gently. Then, well, then you just wait. That’s the hard part sometimes.
Watching and Waiting
Took maybe a week, week and a half? Saw the first little green shoots poking through. Always feels like a little win, that. Made sure to keep the ground damp, especially when we had a few hot days. They looked so tiny at first, almost fragile. Worried a bird might get them or something.
But wow, once they got going, they really shot up. Every day you could see they were taller. Started getting proper leaves, big rough things. They got so tall, maybe four or five feet, that I got a bit worried about wind. Found some bamboo canes and tied the stalks to them loosely, just for a bit of support. Didn’t want them snapping after all that effort.
Had a little trouble with some tiny green bugs, aphids I think. Didn’t want to use any nasty sprays, so I just blasted them off with the hosepipe every few days. Seemed to do the trick mostly.
The Big Bloom
Then the best part started. You could see the big buds forming at the top, all tightly closed. Felt like waiting for a kettle to boil. And then, one morning, the first one started opening up. Amazing. Bright yellow petals, huge dark centre. Over the next week, most of them opened up. They really were giant! Easily taller than me by then.
The bees absolutely loved them too. Always buzzing around the flower heads. Just sitting out there with a cup of tea, watching the flowers and the bees, felt pretty good. Simple stuff, really.
- Got the seeds.
- Prepared the soil.
- Planted and watered.
- Watched them sprout and grow tall.
- Supported them with canes.
- Washed off some pests.
- Finally saw them bloom!
End of the Season
Now, they’re starting to fade a bit. Heads are drooping, petals falling. That’s the cycle, isn’t it? Plan is to let the heads dry out properly on the stalks, then collect the seeds. Got loads of them in there. Can use them for next year, or maybe just feed the birds over winter. It was a good bit of fun, seeing it all happen from just a tiny seed. Definitely doing it again next year.
