Sunflower Power

Sometimes the things that grow the very best in the garden are the things that weren't planted there on purpose. My best example of that this year is the "Gloriosa Polyheaded" sunflower growing in the vegetable bed. I did plant a row of these sunflowers last year. They did alright, but took up a lot of room and I decided not to plant any this year. By early May I saw that one of last year's seeds had somehow been planted and was busy growing. I never have the heart to pull out something that has worked that hard at growing all on its own, so I let it be ( even though I could see it was growing right in the middle of the future tomato row !). And yesterday, the top bloom on it opened. The sunflower has reached over 12 feet in height and has a stock as thick as timber bamboo. It is much larger than any of the same variety that I planted last year - of coarse. That's how it always goes. You might as well sit back and enjoy what mother nature does on her own - she does it the best!