The Sunflower saga of 2022

Earlier this summer I wrote about my family’s summer routine we have going.This involves growing our favorite sunflower plants, saving them from the elements, the herbivores such as deer and rabbits who make the process really hard. Summer of 2022 was brutal by all accounts across the US with the war in Europe making life tough for people.

Folks like us wait for spring/summer joyously started the process of getting ready to plant our sunflower garden along with the usual suspects such as eggplants, peppers, tomatoes and green beans. The growing season started with robust activity like every year at my place too as we joyously planted the sunflower seeds and watched the seedlings appear with the joy we experience each year.

As summer progressed I watched with pride as the sunflower seedlings which emerged from the earth and grew into health seedlings.They were ready to be transplanted out of the planters on to Mother Earth where they began their journey into adulthood. It reminded me of the time my child was coming off training wheels and learning to ride on her own and that memory made me wistful.

My morning ritual for this year began like the years of the past with checking on these sunflower plants. Each year I would approach the sunflower patch with a feeling of dread because of the discovery of more missing plants or plants bereft of leaves which would eventually wither and die. This year was no different. Our battle with these forces continued for weeks while we tried to do everything we could to save as many sunflower plants as we possibly could. This year the gruesome summer too took its toll on these poor plants which survived the rabbits and deer only to be struck down by the unbearable heat which lead to drought conditions. We watched in dismay as these plants turned brown and then declared dead within a few days.

As weeks rolled by we watched the one lone plant escape all the elements that were against it. She grew up into a real beauty majestic and tall with a lot of branches!! Each branch had a beautiful flower and bunches of beautiful big sunflowers swaying ever so gently as the hot summer winds tore through much of the landscape leaving behind dead plants and trees. She was truly a sight or behold. In all rhe 15 years we have grown sunflower plants we have never had so many sunflower blossoms in one single plant!!! This lone sunflower plant stood tall with all its flowering glory represented the beacon of hope that all was not lost. In the place of a single flower that usually brightened our yard in the past years we had a stubborn plant beating all odds stood with multiple blooms entertaining the honey bees that were flocking her and her flowers. In that moment I could not help but draw the parallel to Ukraine and it’s brave people who are fighting against all odds and continue to hold out against their invaders. The world was watching as its people continued to rally around their beloved country, their freedom much like this sunflower plant in my backyard braving all elements and holding forth multiple blooms looking majestic against the sky in an act of defiance.

At the end of summer, after bringing us so much joy we watched as she shed her last leaves and flowers swaying one last time as the cold winds of fall rolled in.

As the war in Ukraine continues with no signs of letting up I would like to dedicate my glorious sunflower plant to all those in Ukraine who are fighting the fight to save their country and to uphold freedom. Ukraine you chose your national flower well as sunflowers are a thing of beauty and bring so much joy.