My Last Chocolate Brown Sunflower Bouquet
 |
| Cherry Rose Sunflower |
I just picked the last large bouquet of sunflowers out of my
garden plot and it felt bittersweet. I
grew 103 chocolate brown sunflowers for Monica’s wedding. I have diligently cut them every two days
for the past month and a half to make them create new blooms. And they peaked two and a half weeks ago and
now they are done six days before her wedding.
Six days! So close. But, I knew that
it was a long shot with a frost looming this month.
 |
| Practice bouquet for Monica |
I grew five different kinds of sunflowers: Cherry Rose, Velvet
Queen, Red Sun, Moulin Rouge, and Evening Sun. And they were all stunning. I learned that they needed to be picked just
when the blooms barely started to open to last 7 days in a vase.
 |
| Evening Sun Sunflower bud |
Instead of deadheading the sunflowers, I picked them
all just as they started to open and I shared them with my friends, neighbors,
and visitors exploring the community garden.
When I handed a dark Velvet Queen sunflower bloom to a young boy he
looked into the dark velvety bloom and asked, “Is it dead?”
 |
| Velvet Queen Sunflower |
Several older women chided me for not letting the flowers go to seed. Which seems a bit silly to me. It’s my garden; go buy your own seeds! But, I diplomatically told them that I’ll let the last couple of blooms go to seed for them.
 |
| Red Sun Sunflower unfurling |
One of my friends asked for some flowers for her son to give to his girlfriend for their Homecoming dance and I created a sunflower hand bouquet for her. I used a pinterest design that Monica suggested using for her wedding bouquet. And it turned out great. When my friend dropped by to pick it up, I found myself not wanting to part with it yet, which amused me. I'm so glad that I took pictures. Isn't it pretty?
Even though I wasn't able to use the sunflowers for Monica's wedding, I'm grateful that I grew them. I highly recommend sharing your flowers with the people you care about. Everyone can use a little more beauty in their day, even Sadie, The Assistant.
