Sunday, August 04, 2013

Final Sunflowers of Summer

When I planted my sunflower garden from seed on March 2, 2013, I had no idea of what that journey would encompass. I actually prepared the back yard plot for the garden in late February. The months of February, March and April were busy growing months that I didn't write too many blog posts. But, come May and June, I was busy blogging several blogs posts about that sunflower garden.

I experienced five full months, from March through July, immersed in my sunflower garden. About the time in late July when my sunflower garden was winding down, I planted another garden of daisy bushes and Echinacea White Swan Coneflowers alongside it.

The biggest JOY I experienced with my sunflower garden were the beautiful sunflower blossoms that epitomized the very best that Mother Nature has to offer. I captured over one thousand photographs of the various sunflower blossoms - it doesn't get any better than that! I could very well see me in my retirement as a floral photojournalist. Wait, I think I am! Presenting the final photo gallery of sunflowers.

Message to Content Scrapers: Perhaps you might want to get original and authentic and grow your own sunflowers to photograph and share online rather than stealing my original work and my traffic to this authentic Google blog!!

Final Sunflowers of Summer

Here is a colorful photo mosaic of the pretty Autumn Beauty Sunflower Blossoms from my flower garden.

Autumn Beauty Sunflower BlossomAutumn Beauty Sunflower Blossom
Autumn Beauty Sunflower BlossomAutumn Beauty Sunflower Blossom
Autumn Beauty Sunflower BlossomAutumn Beauty Sunflower Blossom
Autumn Beauty Sunflower BlossomAutumn Beauty Sunflower Blossom
Pretty Autumn Beauty Multiple Sunflower Blossoms
Pretty Autumn Beauty Multiple Sunflower Blossoms
A Pretty Duet of Autumn Beauty Sunflower Blossoms with Bee
A Pretty Duet of Autumn Beauty Sunflower Blossoms with Bee

Not to forget the colorful bees of Summer! Thank you Mother Nature for bees.

Autumn Beauty Sunflower Blossom and BeeAutumn Beauty Sunflower Blossom and Bee
Autumn Beauty Sunflower Blossom and Bee
Pretty Autumn Beauty Sunflower Blossom and Bee
Putting the final focus on the YELLOW sunflower blossoms. I didn't have as many yellow sunflowers as the Autumn Beauty variety, but those I did have were still pretty impressive! Check out that green grasshopper sitting atop the sunflower blossom below.

pretty yellow sunflower blossom picturepretty yellow sunflower blossom picture
pretty yellow sunflower blossom picturepretty yellow sunflower blossom with green grasshopper picture
A Pretty Duet of Yellow Sunflower Blossoms
A Pretty Duet of Yellow Sunflower Blossoms
A Pretty Trio of Yellow Sunflower Blossoms
A Pretty Trio of Yellow Sunflower Blossoms

Saving the Best for Last

Some of my "best" sunflower blossom pictures featured the sky as the backdrop. I especially loved this sunflower photo, photographed against the bright blue sky, because it didn't need any photoediting or tweaking - I just needed to size it. Take a look, tell me what you think!

An Impressive Singular Yellow Sunflower Blossom with Blue Sky Backdrop
An Impressive Singular Yellow Sunflower Blossom with Blue Sky Backdrop
In this picture, you can feel the finality. A singular yellow sunflower blossom seeks its spotlight alongside a cut stem of a former blossom.

And, taking the final bow of Summer, I offer up this last photo.

A Final Sunflower of Summer Bows its Head
A Final Sunflower of Summer Bows its Head
I rather think that this creatively looks like an ostrich bending its head toward the earth.

Final Sunflower Heads of Summer

All those pretty sunflowers up above have now ended up down below. This is a tray of the final sunflower heads which were cut to be dried.

Final Sunflower Heads of Summer for Harvesting Seeds
The Final Sunflower Heads of Summer for Harvesting Seeds
UPDATE: I have now harvested all the sunflower seeds from my flower garden for The Sunflower Project. I will be saving the seeds to share for next season's growing season. And, the sunflower garden has been leveled - cut to the ground.
Sunflower Garden Leveled
Sunflower Garden Leveled - Cut to the Ground - The End!
P.S. Relive the sunflower journey from the beginning. Add a sunflower garden stake to your flower garden! See you next season!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Your pictures are absolutely gorgeous, Julie! I like them all. Congratulations on what appears to have been a very successful project!

Julie Ann Brady said...

Hi Susan! Thanks for the lovely compliments. I can't tell you what a joy it was to experience this sunflower garden from start to finish! Looking forward to another go at it in 2014.

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