Sunflowers!
Don’t they make you smile, my memories of the French countryside are of endless fields of sunflowers. Our small tribute, has been four sunflowers that my son planted along our side fence, what a great success.
For a start they grew and screened our ugly fence. Then when some promising blooms started to erupt we were all excited.
In the past two weeks we have enjoyed their huge yellow faces and now the local Crimson Rosellas are having a great feast, slowly picking out the sunflower seeds one by one.
Greedy birds!
If I don’t get in soon, I think we are going to miss out on those sunflower seeds!
Enviromum's Blog 
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January 24, 2012 at 11:04 am
kylieverdouwphotography
How disappointing at least the worms didn’t eat them when they where small they still look great anyway!
January 27, 2012 at 10:36 am
enviromum
…and at least an un-named child didn’t step on the seedlings this time around!
January 24, 2012 at 1:18 pm
Tony William Powell
I can assure you that our British birds like nothing better than munching down kilos of sunflower seeds. We buy the sunflower hearts (dehusked) and literally every species which visits our garden, will eat them.
Best Wishes
Tony Powell
January 27, 2012 at 10:35 am
enviromum
Seems like they must be an international favourite! Will have to start planting a few more plants that are attractive to our native birds.
January 25, 2012 at 10:13 am
Laura Rittenhouse
The rosellas munched their way through a large corner of my sunflowers last summer and then a cockatoo arrived and took the whole head away with him to eat in peace on our neighbour’s roof (http://laurarittenhouse.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/cockatoo-delight/). The rosellas didn’t seem so greedy after that.
I still had enough left to harvest for seeds and earned a second crop of sunflowers for my pains. I learned a few lessons through this exercise, namely the 2nd crop didn’t all germinate and the flowers ended up with multiple heads which is only a plus in my book (see my post about the different flower type if you’re interested here http://laurarittenhouse.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/first-day-of-winter/). Don’t give up even if the birds get it all – beautiful flowers and beautiful birds. How can you not love it?
Cheers,
Laura
http://laurarittenhouse.wordpress.com/
http://www.laurarittenhouse.com/
January 27, 2012 at 10:33 am
enviromum
Thanks Laura, I am trying to hang onto some seeds to either eat, germinate or both. In the meantime our chooks have polished off the remainder of one of the sunflower heads that the Rosellas had already started on. I am definitely keen to try planting some more. Thanks for the links, look forward to reading more of your blog…and novel!
January 29, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Laura Rittenhouse
Enviromum – good luck with the eating. I found them way too troublesome to shell and eat. I’m not sure if there is a knack to roasting them so the seeds pop out but peeling them raw burns more calories than you get by eating them (a new diet craze?).
My blog is definitely ramped down a notch since I’m overseas for a while. I’ll be home in a month and back at it. In the meantime I’ll enjoy reading yours. Great stuff!