Sunflowers make my heart shine.

Well it's been a little chillier this week so I've mostly been staying out of the veggie garden, just trying to sit back and let things grow. So far everything I did put out seems to be living, even that one little tomato plant. And that's not the only thing that's growing, my sunflowers are coming up!

Sunflowers are my very favourite flower. They come in such a wide variety of shapes and size and colours, their beautiful foliage attracts all sorts of good creatures to the garden and provides a home for aphids so they stay off my veggies. Most of all they usually last quite late into autumn, after all the other plants have died away my sunflowers shine on, providing a last bit of late summer sun.

This year I'm planting all the sunflowers I saved from last year. Among my favourites are Evening Sun because of the beautiful dark red colours. I also have some large very classic yellow petalled sunflowers. One day I hope to add some lovely Italian Whites, maybe some nice peach sunflowers to my garden, there are some gorgeous forms of miniature sunflowers that I'd like to make a border with, and... I stay away from the sunflowers in the seed catalogues for fear we'll go broke.

I've also got some strawflowers growing, a new flower I added last year. I'm sure it's not hard to understand why they are my second favourites.

I'm just waiting for my lovely blue German Iris to burst through their foliage. I'm expecting them and the tulips within the next two weeks.