September Sunflowers
clamber
Agathe and Opal clambered up the sunflowers even while I was out of town…
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Top
…they climbed right up to the top…
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frolic
…and frolicked in the leaves (thanks to the favourite photographer for sending these cheering photos to us while we were away)!.
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browning
But now the leaves are getting brittle and brown.
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nubbins
…the petals are all dry and the little nubbins attached to the seeds are falling off!
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Crosscut
That means it is time to decapitate the plant!
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saw
So the twins manoeuvred their crosscut saw up, and pushed and pulled it across the stalk…
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Look out Below!
Timber!!!
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plop
The seed head fell on top of the volunteer tomato and the columbine plant!!
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Tomato!?
The tomatoes will have a hard time ripening in the cool fall weather, but you never know!
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brush
The twins brushed off the remaining nubbins…
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The end
The seeds will dry now – will we toast and eat them? Save a couple to see if we can grow another one next year?
That’s the end of the growing part of our sunflower summer!
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Impressive! No luck here with sunflowers…the critters think they are delicious!
I lost a big sunflower head to squirrels a couple of years ago, which is why this time I planted them right next to the house – we were lucky! They survived, and I didn’t have to post about another garden disaster!!
Yippee! It’s hard to outsmart the critters!
Your sunflower experience is just great. It’s been fun to see the twins monitor the sunflower’s progress and now it’s harvest-ability. Thanks to favorite photographer too for monitoring the process!
The sunflowers kept developing even while we were out of town – and it was really nice of our F. P. to send us cheering updates! What a glorious sunny sunflower summer it was!
I just adore their outfits. I would wear them!
The late friend of a friend made them – aren’t they adorable!? We made the coordinating breeches so the girls could climb, hang upside down and do cartwheels with impunity.
They are adorable and an endearing way to remember a friend.
They look very proud of their accomplishment. Smidgen is envious of such a trove of seeds. What a speedy summer it was this year. Sigh.
The sunflower seeds would be mouse overload, she’d have to invite all her friends!! The block twins did feel very proud of themselves, and oh yes, where has the summer gone?! Already!!
that is a very impressive sunflower and so good of the favorite photographer to take the pictures so you wouldn’t miss the decapitating. Hopefully the girls will grow more next year.
We hope to grow some more sunflowers, big, small or in between – we really liked having such an exciting part of the garden this year!
Love that crosscut saw! Glad you were able to get photos of this historic moment in the 2026 Sunflower Project. My commiserations to the tomato plant underneath – must’ve been quite a thunk.
The Hittys love an excuse to haul out the crosscut saw – harvest season is one of their favourite times of year! The thunk was quite impressive!
You have a very helpful husband! I have enjoyed watching your sunflowers grow and come to fruition. Maybe I will try tall ones next year.
Our F. P. is a good sport! He used to make more pictures when he took Tansy out on archaeological projects, but he’s been retired for a while, I appreciated his contributions on this episode!
Definitely a keeper that one!
SO much fun and beauty 🙂
It was SO much fun, and beautiful! My life is delightful with Hittys and flowers in it!
That makes me happy to hear.
Those photos of Agathe and Opal really brought a smile to my face this morning. There is something so cheerful about sunflowers, even when they get to the brittle and brown stage. I love that the giant seed head landed right on top of your volunteer tomato and the columbine.
Watching the twins work that little crosscut saw reminded me of how good that gentle pushing and pulling motion is for keeping the shoulders and upper back from tightening up. Just a simple, rhythmic back-and-forth can do wonders for stiffness. I hope you get to enjoy some toasted seeds soon.
I’m pleased to see that the twins had fun while you were away, and that they’ve gracefully seen out the last of the sunflowers. I love growing these special annuals.
These are the biggest and most glorious sunflowers we have ever grown! It was quite amusing watching them grow – we could almost see them rising up! The end of summer is poignant, but what good sunflowery memories!
That’s a wonderful image to carry through the colder winter months. Sunflowers are great fun to grow, and so cheering.
How wonderful your favourite photographer sent you updates on what the Hittys were up to! Awesome photos and frolicking in the sunflowers/on sunflower leaves sounds like something I’d like to do if I was their size!
Opal and Agathe kept thinking of the story of Jack and the beanstalk! Luckily they didn’t encounter and giants at the top, and the only gold was in the beautiful yellow petals, but that was pretty glorious!
Whew – that would be terrible if you had a giant living on top of your sunflower! (That is one of my favorite stories I read as a child!)
haha yes. No giants this year, we are happy to report!