Sunflowers: True Flowers of the Sun
There is just something truly amazing about a sunflower…maybe it’s the fact that the sunflower can be used in so many ways: for its beauty, to eat its seeds, to ground it into flour, to extract oil from it, to use in bio-diesel, etc. Or maybe it’s that each sunflower head is made up of thousands and thousands of tiny flowers all connected at a base. Whatever it is, there is no denying the sunflower is a wonder of nature.
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The sunflower itself is believed to have originated in North America. It is a somewhat domesticated, or single stalk, version of the wild sunflower which dates back to 1000 B.C. The former Soviet Union traditionally grows the largest number of sunflowers every year and the sunflower is Russia’s national flower.
Sunflowers usually take anywhere between 3-6 months to fully bloom and grow between 3-10 feet tall on average. Although a 25 foot sunflower was apparently grown in the Netherlands back in 1986.
As you would figure, the sunflower gets its name because its shape resembles that of the sun. However it’s not only the shape that inspires the sunflower’s name, it is also its behavior towards the sun. Sunflowers track the movement of the sun and tend to move or lean towards it throughout the day in order to get the most direct sunlight.
So while you admire these beautiful flowers, remember we can all learn something from the sunflower. As Helen Keller said, “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do.”
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