I wrote earlier about the rogue birdseed that fell into a crack in my driveway. The plant came up, it endured even though it was surrounded by asphalt. Then it grew 49 flower heads, it appears, just to show me that you can survive in tough conditions.
Amazingly beautiful! So, I memorialized it on canvas.
This plant really touched something in me. I guess, I just have a thing for those who not only survive… but who thrive.
Here she is:
I am enjoying the summer gardening in the city. Still I am looking forward to the doctor appointment that is coming up. I will find out if I get a thumbs up and can get back to work on THO. I really want to get the wood stove in while the weather will allow for a hole in the wall!
The nice thing about gardening in the city is that there is not a lot of competition with the wildlife here. So what I grow, I get to keep. This said, our neighbourhood skunks tipped over two of my huge tomatoes the other night and did a little damage to them. I have tied them up now and hope this does the trick. These skunks are cute, but they are little stinkers!
Look at the buds on the sucker!
Why I write today is because there is a large mystery sunflower in my driveway here in Hamilton. It came up, I assume, from birdseed, because I never planted any sunflowers. It is growing in the crack between the paved driveway and the cement border of my flower bed. That is is growing here where there is no soil and only a tiny crack is really only part of the mystery.
Look up!
The thing that I don’t know is what variety it is. The plant is the showiest sunflower. It is budding out and then flowering everywhere. The plant is HUGE! Eight feet high and three feet wide. It is not just single giant flower rather there are about forty, YES 40(!!!) flowers on the single stem. You see, there are suckers coming out on every leaf and these suckers have between one and six buds/flowers on them.
Sunny single sunflower with lots of flowers
The flowers just started opening a few days ago so it is not yet at its full potential but I wanted to share the photos of it from now, because it is just so beautiful that I couldn’t wait! The seeds are not filled in so they flowers are at the smallest point but I think that each of the flowers will wind up being about 6 to 18 inches across when it is fully developed.
I will try at the end of the year to collect the seeds but I know full well that seeds are not true to the parent but a mixture of them and who is cross pollinated with them.
Does anyone know what variety they are, because I certainly would like to grow these beauties again and again. They are, living art.
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UPDATE: According to the National Sunflower Association the sunflower association cultivated sunflowers have only one head but wild ones can have more. The world record for the most sunflowers on a single stalk is 837 heads.
Clearly this is a wild cultivar and this makes me happy, because I am not a fan of mono cultivation. Those of you who want seeds please leave a comment below and when I harvest them I will mail some to you. If I get a lot of requests I will have to ask for you to pay-pal me postage.
The sky is crying because it knows that THO is sad to see me go
I was at Tiny House Ontario last week, but had a medical crisis and thus headed back early to Hamilton. We had intended to stay until Wednesday afternoon, but due to my health, my husband had to pack everything up on Monday evening for us to rush back. It was raining like crazy when Hj, the dogs and I pulled out. Unfortunately, the medical stuff was serious enough that I was unable to fly to Memphis; but fortunately it is nothing terminal – just painful and annoying. More than that though, it was a sad disappointment for me to miss my first ever tiny house event. I strongly hope that any of you who had tickets were not even slightly disappointed by my absence. The nice thing is that Deek (http://relaxshacks.blogspot.ca) has another iron in the fire, so hopefully I will be able to meet the community later this year and perhaps some of you as well.
I am sure that there won’t be a bit of snow left when I return but of course, there should not be anyway. The area where the house is is under flood threat and a few people have asked me if the house is at risk, but it is not. I am way up on a hill and because I am on well faulted limestone bedrock, the drainage is excellent. I am 100% sure that THO is a dry. The only weather condition that ever gives me any pause is wind. This is because I have so many trees large surrounding me there and the ground is shallow above the rocks.
Now that I am feeling slightly better, I will head back up on Easter Saturday and stay there for ten days until my next medical appointment. I really want to spend the Spring Equinox, Ostara, and Earth Day there in my woods.
Here is a painting that invites me to enjoy this season, I look it up at this time, year after year.
Ostara by Helena Nelson Reed http://helena-nelson-reed.smugmug.com/Paintings/Goddess-Paintings/19503163_ZFNwbN#!i=1526990829&k=ZThjSSn
Also, I do have an other little update… During the three days I had at the house, I noticed that there were a couple of tiny problems that happened this winter. You can read about this at Tiny House Listings.
Today I saw a video that I think is very wise.
I thought this was a beautiful reminder of how we can invite simple blessings into our daily life. Also, it reflects, on natural abundance.
<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/65097808″>Finding Love</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user612630″>hailey bartholomew</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>I will leave for Tiny House Ontario tomorrow morning after rush hour. I am going for a few reasons this time. Firstly, I am picking up Joe the three legged street cat in downtown Toronto and driving him to his Foster Home in Kingston Ontario. Poor old Joe was one of the disposable pets out on the street, due to his injury it was extra hard for him to survive. He was rescued in cooperation with Annex Cat Rescue, Project Pet Rescue, and Kingston Animal Rescue. He has been vetted, neutered and will be up for adoption once he is rehabilitated. You can read more about Joe here, or if you are interested in making a donation to help with Joe’s vet bills or his care please do so with one or all of the agencies listed and linked above. Perhaps you would like to adopt him or another homeless animal?
I am also heading to Kingston because I have a show in Battersea Ontario at the United Church. They have invited local talent to come to show and sell their items. The show will be on November 30 from 9-5. I am excited to do this show because there is a lot of free and close parking so I expect a lot of my friends and family to be there. For a lot of people getting into the downtown for market days is just too difficult and stressful, so it will give me an opportunity to show my work to members of my family, and friends who have not yet seen it live! Art work is so much better in person!
Please do come to the show to see the local talent if you are anywhere nearby. Admission is just $5 and I bet you will be able to find wonderful unique gifts for a reasonable cost there.
My most recent work Grandma’s Gift will be shown for the first time.
I am also of course visiting my house and I am very excited about this! We have snow in Kingston now so I will bring along my snowshoes! My cousin Tracey took this photo this morning and allowed me to share it. I look forward to getting out into the magical forest and seeing the changes that Mother Earth has undergone!
Tiny House Ontario 