Smiling with Sunflowers!

Turn your face to the sun, and shadows follow behind you

Maori Proverb

A flower blossoms for its own joy.

Oscar Wilde

If you ask anyone to think of the cheeriest flower they know, I’ll bet that most people immediately think of sunflowers!  They are not fragrant like roses, peonies, or lavender. They are not intricately designed like begonias, orchids, and many tropical flowers. They do not have stunning leaf patterns as do coleus, philodendrons, and monsteras.

Yet sunflowers make us smile and feel joy when we look at their bright yellow faces turned toward light. Many grow tall as though wanting to reach up to the heavens. They have centers of deep brown, green, yellow, or even orange. Those centers are surrounded by bright yellow petals, though various patterns have been developed with different varieties. They are the symbol of happiness, loyalty, and adoration (to name just a few of the common significance of sunflowers). Their seeds attract birds and other animals. People love the seeds too and sunflower oil is the fourth most common oil used in the world.

My love affair with sunflowers really blossomed (pun intended) when my husband and I were raising our sons. I would plant different varieties in a circle pattern, with vining beans in-between, to create a sunflower fort!  Not only did my children like the tall, cool hideout, but so did our cats. Whenever I would look out the window, I would smile!  Little birds flitting about from branch to branch and flower to flower while my young sons hid out in the center of the sunflower “fort”.

In my current home, I planted a few sunflowers years ago in a small planter. Though they no longer live in that now-shady planter, they have naturalized into what was a rather ugly rocky area near my driveway. So much so that they look like a little field of sunflowers purposefully planted. All I have to do is remove a few weeds in the spring and water them faithfully in the summer. If I give them a few doses of fertilizer, they really thrive! In the summer and early fall, their bright flowers never cease to make me feel happy. In the fall, when their petals have faded and little is left of the flower but the heavy seed head, I love seeing little birds perching on their branches and seed heads as they nibble the tasty treats.

As you are out and about this summer and fall, may you feel joy as you see bright yellow flowers or tall stalks filled with little birds.  As always, looking at simple things in life can bring happiness!