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!