Uptight Sunflower

[Sunltcloud]

I have just begun to upload photos to the Facebook page; the sunflower is in full bloom on page three and her face is tightly shut on page four. There is not yet much order to the garden journal photos, but like Kathy, I have to run. I hope the link they tell me to use for public viewing at the bottom of Facebook works. I'll give it a try.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009237&id=1394520121&l=3784fd4840

[TiggerBear]

Stinging nettles and Stevia?

Ok I know what one does with stevia, but stinging nettles?

[KathyS]

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Sunltcloud wrote:

I have just begun to upload photos to the Facebook page; the sunflower is in full bloom on page three and her face is tightly shut on page four. There is not yet much order to the garden journal photos, but like Kathy, I have to run. I hope the link they tell me to use for public viewing at the bottom of Facebook works. I'll give it a try.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009237&id=1394520121&l=3784fd4840

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G - Your pictures came out great!  That's neat that your Facebook pictures could link here.  I haven't opened an account with them, yet..

I love Marosol and DeeMinor!  They must be a 'big' help to you! They made me giggle!  So, when do I get invited to lunch!  Yum -

That sunflower certainly did an about-'face', didn't it?  Wow, it's pouting!  I wish it a "get well".

Kathy

Message Edited by KathyS on 05-22-2009 03:37 PM

[KathyS]

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becke_davis wrote:
Flat Emma, stinging nettles and scrapbooking paper dolls - there is always something new on this site!

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I'm laughing...Flat Emma went to the grocery store this afternoon...I sat her in the cart, put the little seatbelt around her waist....I was standing at the bread section..contemplating a bread that didn't contain flour..for my sister-in-law, when one of the women who works there saw the perplexted look on my face.  She looked down, and saw Flat Emma sitting in the cart.  Okay, I had to tell her the story, she just laughed (never hearing the story about Flat Stanley)...

I proceeded to the produce department to get Flat Emma her favorite vegetables, spinach and brocolli...I put the veg. next to her, and took several "flashing" shots, different angles. People were taking all of this in...I felt like an idiot, but nobody had the nerve to ask what the heck I was doing!  I thought, that's enough for today, before somebody calls the guys in the white coats! - took her out of the seat, folded her  arms and legs back up, and stuck her back into her envelope...and finished my shopping!  Yeah, I also got her her favorite bags of Wild Oats Cheese Curls (Cheetos type)  They'll play a big part in her next adventure...she climbs to the bottom of the near empty bag, to get the last one!  Now, I've got to take her to the pool...more shots.  This is where I have to rescue her, before she falls into the pool, with her clothes on!

Later,

Kthy

[Sunltcloud]

When I was a kid in Germany I used to cry  when I fell into stinging nettles that were everywhere in the woods where we played. I heard that the stinging hairs no longer sting when they are boiled and people use them for soup. They also contain some kind of vitamin that is supposed to have healing powers. I just laughed when my ex told me he had "ordered" stinging nettle seedlings. I can't believe that one would want to grow them on purpose.

Before he mentioned Stevia I had never heard of it. He brought me a plant and I was surprised at the tiny, tiny amount needed to sweeten with it. But to me it tastes like artificial sweetener.

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TiggerBear wrote:

Stinging nettles and Stevia?

Ok I know what one does with stevia, but stinging nettles?

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[Sunltcloud]

I never use Facebook, but I was trying to figure out where to upload some of the sunflower pictures so you could see them. Recently I joined Twitter too, and I follow some people but don't post anything. Most of the time I join to see what it looks like, to stay up to date with new ways of communication and to write about the experience. Everybody in my memoirs class laughed when I wrote about my Twitter experience. Now I'm playing with Google Earth, which I love.

As for the sunflower, I wonder now, if it hasn't just had a short life cycle due to being potted in the beginning. But it is outside now, in the ground, though there has been very little wind today. I wonder if I should set the hairdryer on cold and try to blow it out of its little pout.

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KathyS wrote:

G - Your pictures came out great!  That's neat that your Facebook pictures could link here.  I haven't opened an account with them, yet..

I love Marosol and DeeMinor!  They must be a 'big' help to you! They made me giggle!  So, when do I get invited to lunch!  Yum -

That sunflower certainly did an about-'face', didn't it?  Wow, it's pouting!  I wish it a "get well".

Kathy

Message Edited by KathyS on 05-22-2009 03:37 PM

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[TiggerBear]

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Sunltcloud wrote:

When I was a kid in Germany I used to cry  when I fell into stinging nettles that were everywhere in the woods where we played. I heard that the stinging hairs no longer sting when they are boiled and people use them for soup. They also contain some kind of vitamin that is supposed to have healing powers. I just laughed when my ex told me he had "ordered" stinging nettle seedlings. I can't believe that one would want to grow them on purpose.

Before he mentioned Stevia I had never heard of it. He brought me a plant and I was surprised at the tiny, tiny amount needed to sweeten with it. But to me it tastes like artificial sweetener.

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TiggerBear wrote:

Stinging nettles and Stevia?

Ok I know what one does with stevia, but stinging nettles?

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Why does nettle soup sound torturous to me?

Oh yeah stevia, right there in the category of replacing chocolate with carob.

[KathyS]

These newfangled thingamjiggies....the only writing I do about them, is on these B&N boards...I whine alot..., especially about not having faster internet service!  Again, you'd think I lived in the boonies!  I think I need a life!

I wonder if I should set the hairdryer on cold and try to blow it out of its little pout.

This is where I am LMAO! 

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Sunltcloud wrote:

I never use Facebook, but I was trying to figure out where to upload some of the sunflower pictures so you could see them. Recently I joined Twitter too, and I follow some people but don't post anything. Most of the time I join to see what it looks like, to stay up to date with new ways of communication and to write about the experience. Everybody in my memoirs class laughed when I wrote about my Twitter experience. Now I'm playing with Google Earth, which I love.

As for the sunflower, I wonder now, if it hasn't just had a short life cycle due to being potted in the beginning. But it is outside now, in the ground, though there has been very little wind today. I wonder if I should set the hairdryer on cold and try to blow it out of its little pout.

---

KathyS wrote:

G - Your pictures came out great!  That's neat that your Facebook pictures could link here.  I haven't opened an account with them, yet..

I love Marosol and DeeMinor!  They must be a 'big' help to you! They made me giggle!  So, when do I get invited to lunch!  Yum -

That sunflower certainly did an about-'face', didn't it?  Wow, it's pouting!  I wish it a "get well".

Kathy

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[becke_davis]

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Sunltcloud wrote:

I have just begun to upload photos to the Facebook page; the sunflower is in full bloom on page three and her face is tightly shut on page four. There is not yet much order to the garden journal photos, but like Kathy, I have to run. I hope the link they tell me to use for public viewing at the bottom of Facebook works. I'll give it a try.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009237&id=1394520121&l=3784fd4840

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Gnomes, dolls, dragons and herbs - boy, have you ever come to the right place!!

[Sunltcloud]

It is with much regret that I report the beheading of the Uptight Sunflower. On the advice of a Master Gardener who just received her degree from the UC Cooperative Extension Master GArdener Program serving Santa Clara County www.mastergardeners.org I took the scissors to the sad face of the patient.

Needless to say that I feel like a traitor. I defied a natural system in favor of personal gain. The flower had been bought as an "Earthday Symbol" and I had promised to cherish the little plant. I debated the decision to capitate with my imaginary shrink Dr. Carl Steinfeld. When he walked away from the discussion, shaking his head, I knew what the answer to my questions should be.

"Leave it to nature," would probably have been the good doctor's advice, had he wanted to honor me with an answer. But since we discussed the holes in my reality at the same time, he must have gathered that I need to come to my own conclusion, even if it is the wrong one.

I feel that it is the wrong one, though I seldom regret the snipping of "regular" flowers. This was a special case. I blew it! Ethical consideration should have overruled my desire to bring the plant back to life. With several small, green buds visible the "authority" said that this would give the plant a chance to direct her efforts into those, rather than wasting them on the dead head that once bloomed so brightly on my kitchen table. 

How do I know I made the wrong decision? The mockingbird on top of the pine tree stopped singing while I performed the operation. He sings from midnight to three every night, greets me with newly learned syllables at seven, and usually spends his afternoons performing concerts for me and the neighbors. I know he must be exhausted from his efforts to attract a mate, but to stop while I am butchering the Uptight Sunflower? That was an omen. That made me sad. And, to add to the sadness, the doll actors known as "Marisol" have refused to pose for me. They demand a proper testimonial.

I promised them a memorial service. As soon as the preparations are made, we will bury the head near the sunflower, thus giving back to the earth what I have stolen. Only then will Marisol perform again. DeeMinor, the poor dragon, has no idea what happened. He is still happily snoozing in the chives; it is now up to me to tell him the truth and prepare him for participation in the funeral.  

[KathyS]

Oh, mercy!  Mercy! Mercy!...May God have mercy on thy ever-loving souls! 

G -

I read half way down your thoughts, and had to pour myself a glass of something stronger than water!  Guilt must be the topic of the week!  Why, or why, do we keep questioning our motives, our actions, our decisions?  Heaven only knows!  They're made; they're done; there is no turning back!

This deed you performed was not an act of treason!   You are NOT a traitor!  It was an act of MERCY!  Listen to the reasons. You listened to TWO doctors' advice...ask yourself.."Who is the specialist in this matter?"  Certainly not your shrink! (Imaginary, or not)

Original intentions don't always jive with end results., both in thinking and in nature.

Of course you feel you've let the sunflower down, but maybe, just maybe, the beheading was what it wanted....Let it go; let it evolve into more impowering growth.  Let the offspring have the next chance at seeing the sun.  You did NOT kill the plant, just gave it another chance at life.   The heart is still there!  If an arm is infected, do you leave it on to infect the rest of the body, if there is no chance to save it?  You did your best, G - Know this.

Desire is a beautiful thing, but responsibility has to play in there somewhere.

Your mockingbird, and your Marisol, were only giving a just goodbye.  A moment of silence.....Nature takes its toll, and we can't save everything in it.  You haven't stolen a thing.  Please don't think that.  You care a lot.  You did what was necessary.

Tearfully,

Kathy

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Sunltcloud wrote:

It is with much regret that I report the beheading of the Uptight Sunflower. On the advice of a Master Gardener who just received her degree from the UC Cooperative Extension Master GArdener Program serving Santa Clara County www.mastergardeners.org I took the scissors to the sad face of the patient.

Needless to say that I feel like a traitor. I defied a natural system in favor of personal gain. The flower had been bought as an "Earthday Symbol" and I had promised to cherish the little plant. I debated the decision to capitate with my imaginary shrink Dr. Carl Steinfeld. When he walked away from the discussion, shaking his head, I knew what the answer to my questions should be.

"Leave it to nature," would probably have been the good doctor's advice, had he wanted to honor me with an answer. But since we discussed the holes in my reality at the same time, he must have gathered that I need to come to my own conclusion, even if it is the wrong one.

I feel that it is the wrong one, though I seldom regret the snipping of "regular" flowers. This was a special case. I blew it! Ethical consideration should have overruled my desire to bring the plant back to life. With several small, green buds visible the "authority" said that this would give the plant a chance to direct her efforts into those, rather than wasting them on the dead head that once bloomed so brightly on my kitchen table. 

How do I know I made the wrong decision? The mockingbird on top of the pine tree stopped singing while I performed the operation. He sings from midnight to three every night, greets me with newly learned syllables at seven, and usually spends his afternoons performing concerts for me and the neighbors. I know he must be exhausted from his efforts to attract a mate, but to stop while I am butchering the Uptight Sunflower? That was an omen. That made me sad. And, to add to the sadness, the doll actors known as "Marisol" have refused to pose for me. They demand a proper testimonial.

I promised them a memorial service. As soon as the preparations are made, we will bury the head near the sunflower, thus giving back to the earth what I have stolen. Only then will Marisol perform again. DeeMinor, the poor dragon, has no idea what happened. He is still happily snoozing in the chives; it is now up to me to tell him the truth and prepare him for participation in the funeral.  

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[becke_davis]

Buy a packet of sunflower seeds and toss them in a container or in the ground. Maybe the new crop will be sturdier than your lost sunflower, although I understand that they can never replace the one who has passed on.

[Par4course]

Although I have little experience with sunflowers, other than sticking a bunch of seeds in the ground and letting them do their thing, as an elementary teacher I must report that much is to be gained by holding a funeral.  We must do this often when our class pets die (we've been through an unusually large number of goldfish this year).  A solemn trip to the closest planter box, humming a sad song, a few words from some volunteer students ("He was a good fish") andwe all are much cheerier. 

I don't know why a little morbid sadness makes us feel better, but it does.  When I was a kid, my mom would say "You can have a five minute pity party, then get over it."  It's always worked for me...and the kids in my class seem to get it too.  

[becke_davis]

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Par4course wrote:

Although I have little experience with sunflowers, other than sticking a bunch of seeds in the ground and letting them do their thing, as an elementary teacher I must report that much is to be gained by holding a funeral.  We must do this often when our class pets die (we've been through an unusually large number of goldfish this year).  A solemn trip to the closest planter box, humming a sad song, a few words from some volunteer students ("He was a good fish") andwe all are much cheerier. 

I don't know why a little morbid sadness makes us feel better, but it does.  When I was a kid, my mom would say "You can have a five minute pity party, then get over it."  It's always worked for me...and the kids in my class seem to get it too.  

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Perfect.  We will all be there in spirit.

[Sunltcloud]

Leave it to Kathy, the poet, to balance the universe and filter guilt until it clears into joy.

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KathyS wrote:

Oh, mercy!  Mercy! Mercy!...May God have mercy on thy ever-loving souls! 

[Sunltcloud]

Good advice. Thanks.

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becke_davis wrote:
Buy a packet of sunflower seeds and toss them in a container or in the ground. Maybe the new crop will be sturdier than your lost sunflower, although I understand that they can never replace the one who has passed on.

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[Sunltcloud]

Oh yes. When my kids were little we had a small cemetery in a corner of the garden. Several goldfish, a guinea pig, a turtle, and a bird (for which my daughter decorated a stone with the word "dirb." I think she was about five at the time.

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Par4course wrote:

Although I have little experience with sunflowers, other than sticking a bunch of seeds in the ground and letting them do their thing, as an elementary teacher I must report that much is to be gained by holding a funeral.  We must do this often when our class pets die (we've been through an unusually large number of goldfish this year).  A solemn trip to the closest planter box, humming a sad song, a few words from some volunteer students ("He was a good fish") andwe all are much cheerier. 

I don't know why a little morbid sadness makes us feel better, but it does.  When I was a kid, my mom would say "You can have a five minute pity party, then get over it."  It's always worked for me...and the kids in my class seem to get it too.  

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[Par4course]

Question about sunflowers --- this year I planted seeds from a packet of "multli-colored" and obviously multi-sized  sunflowers.  If I save some of their seeds, will they come up true next year?  Or, because of cross pollination and all, will I just have to wait and see what I end up with next season?

[becke_davis]

If they were hybrids, they won't come true because hybrids (F1 hybrids) are sterile. On the other hand, some supposedly sterile hybrids of lythrum have been found to produce viable seeds, so it might be worth a try.

[TiggerBear]

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Par4course wrote:
Question about sunflowers --- this year I planted seeds from a packet of "multli-colored" and obviously multi-sized  sunflowers.  If I save some of their seeds, will they come up true next year?  Or, because of cross pollination and all, will I just have to wait and see what I end up with next season?

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No to mention few will even spout. Good rule of thumb on most comersial seeds; year 1 80% to 100%, year2 50% at best, year 3 20% at most, year 4 throw them out.