Celebrate the Sunflower Buds and Backs

You know, too often we celebrate the beauty of the sunflower blossoms [that are blooming like crazy] and then we forget about the buds and backs! Join me as we celebrate the sunflower buds and backs.

I've selected just two sunflower photos today to showcase the incredible backs of the sunflower blossoms.

Incredible Back of an Impressive Sunflower Blossom
Photo taken on May 12, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

You can see that there is quite a lot of greenery support in the back of the blossom as it attaches to the stem.

Here is another view of 3 sunflower backs -- originally featuring 5 blossoms, but cropped to showcase only 3:

Incredible Backs of the Three Impressive Sunflower Blossoms
Photo taken on May 12, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

Isn't that cool? Look at how those three sunflower blossoms are all facing towards the house, with their backs to us! I wondered why a plant blossomed in a particular direction. For me, I was quite pleased that more of my sunflower blossoms were blooming towards the house and my rear office window.

Impressive Sunflower Bud
Photo taken on May 15, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

We think of the sunflower blossom as art, but the sunflower bud is equally artistic. I rather wish that I had a better digital camera because a lot of my bud pictures weren't good enough to share. What's cool on this May 15th bud photo is that you get some texture. You can see the furry stem and the delicate greenery comprising the bud which looks like a little cabbage head.

Artistic Sunflower Bud
Photo taken on May 17, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

This is one of my favorite sunflower bud photos. I snapped the photo with a backdrop of gray vinyl siding. You can surely experience the tactile nature of the bud, stem and leaves. Feel the furriness?

Sunflower Bud from the Tallest Plant
Photo taken on May 17, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

What's interesting about this last bud? It comes from the Burpee Sunflower Seeds for Summer Evening Mix Warm Colors which are the tallest sunflower plants, exceeding 6 feet today. And, at $1.09 per seed packet, they were the least expensive sunflower seeds!

I'll be on the lookout for more amazing sunflower buds and backs, but I don't think I can top what I've shared. Not until I actually get a better camera!

Update: I think I can top that. Today I captured a couple more shots which are pretty special.

Sunflower Bud from the Tallest Plant - Take Two
Photo taken on May 19, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

It's an update on that bud ... you can see the blossom inside just peeking out ever so subtly in the middle of the shot.

Sunflower Bud on the Tallest Plant : How About That?
Photo taken on May 19, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

It's amazing how the tallest plant seems to have taken off with its growth. It actually is much like the up periscope on a submarine. All of a sudden, up it came ... surpassing the growth of all the other sunflower plants.

Awesome bud from Yellow Sunflower Blossom
Photo taken on June 15, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

In this picture of the yellow sunflower bud just opening up, you can see that it is a multiple-head! I share that picture of the impressive dual head in my post on Pretty Yellow Sunflower Blossoms. What a feat of Mother Nature.

Awesome bud from Autumn Beauty Sunflower Blossom
Photo taken on June 15, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

Up next in our sunflower series: Colorful Autumn Beauty Sunflower Pictures.

My Sunflower Blossoms are Blooming

On March 2, 2013, I started with 3 different packages of Burpee Sunflower Seeds and a Burpee Seed Starting Kit of 25 cells. Every sunflower seed that I selected to plant had the potential of achieving some 7 feet in height! In addition, I selected a variety of sunflowers to achieve a variety of sunflower blossoms.

Del Sol Hybrid (Pollenless) Classic Cut Flower 5-7 feet - $1.89
Summer Evening Mix Warm Colors 6-7 feet - $1.09
Summer Cutting Garden Mix for Vases and Blooms 5-7 feet - $1.69

What I found interesting is that the "not so tall" sunflower plants produced the first blossoms of the season. Once that first sunflower blossomed, a lot of the other sunflower plants started blooming. Check out the sunflower pictures from my flower garden ...

My first official Sunflower Blossoms appeared on April 28, 2013:

It was around April 28th, at the time that I noticed my first blossoms, that I also noticed something else! Somebody or something was eating the leaves on my sunflower plants. I had my suspicions, but I had no evidence until one day. I had taken a series of photographs after measuring the growth. As I pulled my sunflower photos into Photoshop, I spied something extra. Take a look and see if you see it too!

A Pretty Sunflower Blossom with a Grasshopper!
Photo taken on April 30, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

Oh boy! It is a little green grasshopper. Funny, I haven't seen a lot of grasshoppers over the years here in Jacksonville, Florida. Just when I opt to plant sunflowers, they show up! I hear the locust are due to appear soon. Wonder if they like sunflower plants and leaves? When I was sprinkling the sunflower plants with water this past week, I did see some crazy-looking black winged insect that I've not identified yet. Maybe that is also eating the sunflower plants' leaves?

A Bashful Sunflower Blossom Yawning
Photo taken on May 9, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

I've never thought of sunflower blossoms as being bashful upon blooming. However, looking at this particular blossom, it appears to be yawning or doing a peek-a-boo. Do you see it?

An Artistic Yellow Sunflower Blossom
Photo taken on May 11, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

Sunflower blossoms are truly amazing works of art by Mother Nature. It is a blooming miracle how we start with that little sunflower seed and achieve a 5-7 foot plant that produces such a fascinating blossom.

Two Pretty Yellow Sunflower Blossoms Side by Side
Photo taken on May 15, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

I think those two sunflower blossoms are pretty as a picture ... wow, those came from my garden!

A Pretty Yellow Sunflower Blossom Slightly Different From the Rest
Photo taken on May 15, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

It was on May 15th that I noticed my first slightly different sunflower blossom. Check the sunflower pictures above and below, which appear to be from the Burpee Sunflower Seeds for Summer Cutting Garden Mix for Vases and Blooms.

Another Pretty Sunflower Blossom Slightly Different From the Rest
Photo taken on May 15, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

The difference can be seen in the center of the sunflower blossom which is a bit more "delicate" than the typical sunflower blossom.

And, finally, for this showing we have one more sunflower picture to share!

A Pretty Sunflower Blossom Very Different From the Rest
This is the first Autumn Beauty Sunflower Blossom
Photo taken on May 18, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

The latest variation of sunflower blossom is from the Sunflower Seeds for Summer Evening Mix Warm Colors. That particular sunflower plant attained 64 inches this morning. There is a taller plant, coming in at 74 inches today which looks like it will be this variation of sunflower blossom.

Update: I happened to capture another shot of the Warm Color Sunflower Blossom!

Pretty Warm Color Autumn Beauty Sunflower Blossom
Photo taken on May 19, 2013 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

Want to join me in the fun of growing your very own Sunflower Garden? You've seen the seeds that I used for my garden, why not try some for yourself? You can find a variety of Burpee Sunflower Seeds on Amazon. Also, I confidently recommend you try Burpee Eco-friendly Seed Starting 25 Pellet Greenhouse Kit. That kit worked great for sunflowers, but I can well imagine you could start any type of seed indoors with a little help from Burpee. I went Burpee all the way.

Oh, with a little help from Miracle-Gro of course. I've used Miracle-Gro Potting Mix, Miracle-Gro Shake'n Feed Bloom Booster Plant Food and Miracle-Gro Garden Soil For Flowers and Vegetable. Add a little miracle to your growing -- your sunflowers will thank you for it!

P.S. Follow along on our amazing sunflower journey as we Celebrate the Sunflower Buds and Backs!