One of the reasons I left the Arctic was so I could have a garden. Of course, my idea of a garden was two tomato plants and a 3′ row of corn not the 1 1/2 acre plot Ma calls the patch. The first thing I did besides hug a few trees was enlist the help of my other brother, Darryl, to make a flower bed. That little project required shovels, pick axes, a tractor and a backhoe. Then, I needed fencing, electricity (for the electric fence) landscape timbers, fill dirt, running water and a few teeny-tiny rocks placed strategically in the garden for an architectural element. Three summers later, it’s still not done.
The one thing that I have been able to plant every year is sunflowers. These are the first of 2011. Well worth the 8729 hours it took to create a space to plant that itty-bitty seed, don’t you think?
First Sunflower of 2011
Claire Croxton Romance Author 
Comments on: "First Sunflowers of the Year" (4)
Beautiful. Sunflowers always remind me of my father-in-law and daughter. They had an ongoing conversation about sunflowers. I plan to plant them down my drive-way. It’s been 4 1/2 years and I haven’t planted them yet. There’s hope for next year though. Not all of my unfinished projects are quilting. 🙂 ~Nita
Nita, you should make a sunflower quilt! That’s a project that’s been in a tote for about 5 years now. 🙂
Sunflowers blow me away! They are so larger-than-life. Do you sell them too? I am envious of your beauties.
Yep. This is the first year Ma is adding flowers to her farmers’ market stand. So, far it’s been very successful. Plus, it’s a lot more fun picking flowers than it is green beans!