A Bit Early, Aren't We?

Well, it was a bit of a surprise to find my sunflowers beginning to bloom in mid-April!

Sometime in late winter I picked up the seeds for Sunflower "Cutting Gold" on a whim while purchasing some container plants.  The lady at the GC showed me that she was putting the packet under one of the plants in a plastic bag.  Which I promptly forgot.

I left the bag loosely around the plant as I often do to minimize moisture loss during the first twenty-four hours or so after bringing them home, which meant that the paper seed packets beneath were watered thoroughly the next day!

I planted all the seeds in a hurry once I discovered what I'd done; they had been nicely soaked.

And now I have a first sunflower bloom!

Much to the delight of the bees!

I was surprised to learn that sunflowers are a satisfactory summer annual here; there aren't many!  But last summer I actually saw some growing wild beside the road so I thought they might make a perfect addition to the yellow/orange East Border.  They are growing well so far; it will be interesting to see how long they continue, given my early planting and the rapidly approaching Arizona summer.

In the meantime, they are being put to good use!

Weather Diary: Fair with light clouds; High: 85 F (29 C)/Low: 57 F (14 C)