HerbnArts

  ...Their smiling faces were beaming in the summer sun.  Sunflowers are everywhere this August in Ohio.  I had no idea how much I would enjoy seeing the giant sunflowers when I had planted five simple seeds next to the house.  The little kid came out in all of us when I shared the images of my tall flowers with friends around town.  Everyone was stunned to see how high the stocks of the giant flowers grew.  It is no wonder all the gardening books suggest planting sunflower seeds as a summer gardening project for children.  What a thrill for beginning gardeners to enjoy!  One friend asked me what special things needed to be done to have such glorious plants.  "Very complicated," I told her.  "You plant the seeds in the ground , water them, and wait.  The sunflowers do the rest."          A few days ago a friend brought me a  bouquet of the smaller sunflowers from her garden.  She was heartbroken when neighbor children had broken the slender flower stalks growing

    ...Stepping onto my back porch I inspected the mammoth sunflowers that were growing there.  Having grown to a good 15 feet tall, I could barely see far enough up to the sunflower stalks to confirm three out of five had flower heads forming.  It is so exciting to see something planted from seed not only grow, but grow so big and wonderful.  Sunflowers really are an exciting summer miracle that makes it work the wait to see those happy faces beaming toward the sun.  They remind us that we should rejoice in life, lifting our hands and praising our creator.  Once the flower heads are done blooming I intend to tie them to the deck railing  to allow the local birds to nibble the seeds.  That is another fun project for youngsters to do as you create natural birdfeeders from the big sunflowers. How I wish I had planted more....       Many years ago I can remember driving into the country and seeing entire fields of sunflowers.  It was a sight to behold.  You don't see that much anymor

   ...It did stop raining constantly, but now we have slipped into the hot and humid days of late sumbymer here in Ohio.  The temperature has been in the 90's.  All I can manage to do is constantly scrounge for icy cold food and beverages to consume.  My last grocery run had very little real food in the purchases.  All I could think of was popsicles and Italian ices.  My container garden is doing just fine as long as I keep watering everything.  Most of my herbs are drought-tolerant, so this sweltering weather actually suits them.  I can hardly believe that my solitary lavender is starting to crank out more blooms.  Note to self, must get yet another large container for the lavender plant.  That sucker is trying to crawl out of its large pot.  Maybe it has been influenced by the mammoth sunflowers that I  planted next to it.  Those giants are about 12 feet tall and still growing.  They aren't ready for flowers yet.  At this point I am just hoping that I don't hear any "