Sunday, April 4, 2010

Sunflower, so different.

five sunflower plants
growing beside tomato plants, radishes and basil.

five sunflower plants
the bottom left is the wild weeds, 
producing little 
light purple flowers.




a hint of sunflower ready to bloom
a close up from the top

Sunflowers are native to the Central Americas, but now are making Putrajaya their home for the second generation. On the vegetable bed where tomato plants is the focal point, the original six sunflowers are now reduced to five. The unlucky one was cut at the middle, wilted and died. I guess its the work of our neighbour's cat that had been walking through these bushes more than once. 
The rest looked alright displaying green 
and big leaves and solid stems. 

I remembered the first generation of sunflower well, so small and short. That single sole survivor went to end producing some 35 seeds which are now seeing the light of day. These are much bigger than their mother. I tried to measure the size of the leaves. The bigger one matches my right palm.

The rest are grown on the other vegetable bed where brinjals 
and white chilies are the central figures. They are not so lucky, weeping with all sort of problem.
I will do a post soon on them, to explore the possible reasons as to their fate.

The healthier ones as in the photo are showing every indication that they are ready to bloom. 
It will be a matter of time before the little thing swells up. Within a week or so, they should be ready to show the little florets arranged in a spiral pattern. As the buds becoming more pronounced, they should exhibit heliotropism, a behaviour, keeping track of sun's motion across the sky.

It wont be too long.




bangchik
Putrajaya Malaysia



12 comments:

  1. Things seem to grow so fast in your garden.You are going to have sunflowers before long.
    Have a wonderful weekend.

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  2. How lovely to have them in the bed with the vegetables. I will also grow some dwarf sunflowers this year, the smaller size is appealing and easier to fit into the landscape.

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  3. Thanks for stopping by :) Keep us posted ... would love to see the flower photos!

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  4. I'm commenting about the tomatoes below. The layout of your blog is a bit confusing to me. I really appreciate your link to the pruning tomatoes info. I never knew why suckers should be removed. I bet I have better luck this summer with them because of what I learned.

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  5. I remember you showing the lifecycle of the mother sunflower, now so soon her offspring are ready to flower.

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  6. Those sunflowers are doing amazingly well, they grow so fast don't they?

    Just popped by to wish you a very Happy Easter,

    RO xxx

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  7. I keep intending to grow sunflowers. One reason is for the birds to eat the seeds, also for me to eat the seeds and to admire the speed of growth and the look of them. Thanks for the post.

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  8. Dirty Girl Gardening ~ Thanks. My anticipation is how big and how many seeds each will produce.

    Hocking Hills Gardener ~ Agree. They are quick.

    Rebecca @ In The Garden ~ They add to the colour and variety.

    joey ~ they are beautiful, as they go through the stages..

    Sara Chapman in Seattle, USA ~ Sorry Sara if the blog layout confuse you a little. Basically the left is the post, the right is full of other things.

    About pruning, to be on the safe side, just prune a plant, let the rest go on without pruning... Then we may see the difference.

    ~bangchik
    Putrajaya MALAYSIA.

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  9. Jo ~ thanks, so remember the life cycle of the mother plant. The children look a lot bigger.

    Rothschild Orchid ~ Happy Easter to you too. They are quick, as quick as the radishes.

    catmint ~ I grow sunflowers for the speed of growth, the lovely flowers and the seeds. Birds here don't seem to bother, and the number is small for me to eat. When the seeds run to thousandS then I will eat!

    ~bangchik
    Putrajaya MALAYSIA

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  10. I am working on a Sunflower family. The little plants I started from seeds inside are about ready to go outside. I do hope they will be as successful as yours seem to be, but I am not as good a gardener as you!

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  11. ~Jeri Landers
    Hopefully your sunflowers grow and bloom. I am not an expert gardener. Just a part timer, squeezing as much time as I can with the plants.
    ~bangchik

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