The Year of the Sunflower...

 ...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 in her front yard. Knowing that I had admired her sunflowers and commented that I wouldn't mind having a few for a vase at my house if she dared part with any blooms, she brought the flowers to me.  I was thrilled!  Having placed the bouquet in my bedroom, I wake up to smiling to smiling sunflower faces in the morning.  I cannot think of a better way to start the day.  
        With summer slipping away I have tried to savor each day like fine wine.  August is nearly finished and already everyone is making plans for Labor Day celebrations.  For most of us, just as Memorial day signals the beginning of summer, Labor Day signals the end of summer.  Already dry leaves are swirling on the sidewalks.  For a few weeks now, bits of orange and yellow are creeping into the landscape.  August had been hot and far too dry.  It seems strange to see lawns turning brown as we had an over abundance of rain and cool weather in June.  Walking around town I have noticed 
copious amounts of webs on the shrubs around Lake Anna, a sign of another tough winter coming. Acorns are everywhere along the sidewalks.  Squirrels have been especially industrious.  I have seen them carrying bunches of leaves and small branches with the purpose of building secure nests for the coming months. All harbingers of the coming winter, and I suppose I should take a lesson from them and begin my preparations for the months of being closed up in the house. In the meantime, I am harvesting my potted herbs, and preparing to make herbal wreaths that will hold my dried treasures while decorating Johnson House.  Simple summer pursuits with the approval of the smiling giants.  The essence of summer, drink it in while you can.  Watch the clouds in the sky and create floating pictures.  Gather the last of the summer roses and dry the petals for potpourri.  In winter those aromas will recapture the essence of summer when the dreary snows keep you indoors.  As you sit drinking a cup of tea on your porch or in your garden, smell the wind.  My dog Clancey taught me that lesson.  Smell the wind and remember that it is a good day to remember and enjoy.  The sunflowers know, and they smile... 

   



Harvested pineapple mint