Sunflowers of August

Sunflowers of August

Sunflowers go with August in the same way that the smell of roasting chile does, at least if you live in New Mexico. I could have had blooms a bit earlier. However, I waited to put out the seeds until the pansies from last fall finally faded with the heat. In another month it will be time to plant pansies again. By then, these will have finished blooming and the birds will have consumed the seeds. Monsoon rains also go with August, and this afternoon I got 1.5 inches of rain in about an hour. It was actually a very pleasant rain, although the Weather Service issued flash flood warnings. This monsoon season, so far, 5.5+ inches of rain have fallen at my house. The flowers are happy.

sunflowers buds
Sunflower Buds
sunflowers
Sunflower Takes Flight
colorful sunflowers
Colorful Sunflower
sunflowers after rain
After an Afternoon Rain

12 Replies to “Sunflowers of August”

    1. Hi, Tim. Thanks! I took a look in passing the other day, and I figure yours will be blooming about the time these end! 😉

  1. What beautiful photos of the sunflowers! It makes one happy just seeing them so alive and colorful. Thanks for sharing them, Susan.

    1. Hi, Juanita! Thank you! Another friend says sunflowers promote PMA – “positive mental attitude.” They are indeed alive and colorful. Thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment! 🙂

  2. Love these happy photos, Susan! The buds are just as beautiful as the blooms.
    We, too, have been having monsoon rains, over 8 inches this week, and it is still coming down. In our 24 years here, we have never had so much at once. The soil is super saturated, and plants are starting to show yellowing of the leaves from a lack of oxygen in our heavy clay. If it stopped today, I doubt if we’d have to water for the rest of the summer, but it is supposed to continue through next week. Typical Colorado Springs–too much of everything!

    1. Hi, Carol. Wow! That is a LOT of rain! I understand the yellowing of the leaves. Late yesterday a man died in a flash flood here. So, while I was happy with the rain at my house, it caused some major problems elsewhere in the city, and one death.
      Good luck with the rain up there in the face of supersaturated soil.
      Nice to see you. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. 🙂

  3. The sunflowers are beautiful, Susan!

    It is cool and cloudy this morning up here in my part of Oregon, with some possibility of rain tomorrow. We do get a brief August rain some years, but generally don’t see any from July until late September or early October.

    1. Hi, Lavinia! It really cooled off yesterday here, and it is pleasant right now. I don’t know if we are supposed to get more rain or not, but clouds are hanging around.
      Your “dry” months are the months we get the most rain here. From my perspective, this has been a very good monsoon season. Nice to see you here! 🙂

  4. Wow, you sure bring out the essence of summer with these lovely sunflower portraits!
    I was driving through your neighborhood yesterday during that rain. I had to pull over a few times in order to think about whether to navigate the streets. Even so, here’s to summer rain!

    1. Hi, Laurie! It is so nice to “see” you today! I’m having a sweet potato for lunch today, and, of course, that reminds me of you. The first year I had sunflowers, they were volunteers from bird seed. I enjoyed them so much that I have planted them every year since. The birds love romping around in them, too, so it’s a win-win proposition. I’m glad you like them! Maybe we’ll run into each other at the store before too long!!! 🙂

      1. Hi Susan! It makes me smile to think of sweet potatoes, too! I love sunflowers. Mine are also volunteers from some source I have forgotten! Unless I want mammoths. I bought some seeds this year but they were duds. I learned that the goldfinches eat the sunflower leaves! So, I leave them till completely consumed, even though they look ratty. I also leave various old stalks from year to year- the hummingbirds and fiches use them as convenient perches and gives us more opportunities to see them in a stationary pose! Ill keep an eye out for you at the potato bins! 😉

        1. Hi, Laurie! Yes, I like to have “perches”for the birds also, and they make themselves at home on the “natural” ones, it seems. The regular house finches like the stalks also. Last year or the year before I was surprised to see hummingbirds at the sunflower blooms, so lots of critters like sunflowers (I think I forgot to mention the butterflies and, of course, the bees). I have cosmos for the birds, too. They are just getting going now (I was late to plant), but they will last well into fall.
          Yes, I’ll keep an eye out for you at the potato bins also! 😉

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