Only three sunflowers remain, then two. This is the story of the third.

I took this photograph and later that week a storm blew in, just as the sunflower began to bloom.

The storm was ferocious and ripped the stem in two. The flower had fought a good fight and lie defeated on the ground. Not all is a waste, alas, Jesse found the blossom in time and placed it in a vase. The still life lasted about a week and our thoughts wandered to Van Gogh each time we saw it.

After planting an entire packet of seeds, only 4 sunflowers have survived to this point. Only one of the four is as straight as a pole, pointing to the sky. The others have been beaten down by heavy rains and storms. Some of the little guys gave up, but others have persevered in amazing ways. These guys didn’t let the storms win them over, nope! They just kept creeping and growing along the ground until the wounds were healed and they were ready to get vertical. “Let’s get vertical! Vertical! I wanna get vertical!” (I’m singing this to the tune of “Let’s Get Physical” by Olivia Newton John.) Anyway, here are the photos!

Here’s what they looked like last Saturday! They are about 5 inches tall!

Every year I go to the nursery and buy plants for the yard. I’ve never planted seeds. I’ve also never planted vegetables. 2010 is a year to try new things—so I did both! I put some vegetables in my window box and planted some sunflower seeds by the garage. I figured the bright orange-yellow would look super nice next to my blue siding.

I planted the seeds about two weeks ago and checked in today to find tiny little sunflowers sprouting! I’m so excited to see my seeds are growing (yes, excited even though the seed package says, “guaranteed to grow”). The sprouts are about an inch tall and here are the photos! As long as the plants survive, I’ll post pictures on the blog so you can watch them grow with me! As a bonus, I saw a beautiful caterpillar and photographed it, too!

Guaranteed to grow? Sold!

The seeds. I love all the different stripe patterns! Each sunflower seed is similar to the next yet totally unique—I find this level of detail amazing. We live in an awesome world.

Pushing up dirt!

Stretching out.

Reaching for the sun.

Isn't this a beautiful creature! I love the color combination of turquoise, gold and black. I dig the pattern.

Trying to find a good place to spin a cocoon.

Zoomed in so you can see the incredible detail!

P.S. Are you watching the Discovery Channel series called “Life?” It is one of my favorite shows. The photography is brilliant and with Oprah as the narrator, what’s not to love! You HAVE to watch the episode on plants. It has forever changed the way I look at plant life. Plants are so much more like animals than I ever thought! Check out the Life website and set your DVR to record!!!