Getting Ready + More Sunflower Love

The last Creative Retreat of 2017 is this coming weekend. I have a full class of knitters and it should be a fun time - as all of them have been over the years. I can't believe I have been doing the retreats since 2009. They have morphed and changed over the years. I think I have them where they need to be now. I'll be working on some new ideas for Retreats for 2018 since I have students who love to return and learn something new. I so look forward to meeting new folks and welcoming back students to the farm who have been here before. Hopefully I will take some photos to share with you all next week. 

The sunflowers have been changing daily. New rows and varieties are opening each day. Kind of crazy that I find so much joy in just looking at these beautiful flowers. I love to watch them bud, then bloom, and finally grow older and decay. It is such a short season of bloom. It is truly stunning to wander through the rows with flowers much taller than I am. The bees are working like crazy collecting the pollen. I've been working in my pottery studio which is just a few feet from the flowers so in the evening after I am done, I wander through the garden, collect some blooms and dig around in the garden for something to use for dinner. We have had a great harvest of squash, green beans and basil. The tomatoes have been far from prolific but luckily the veggie farmers have been more successful than me. 

Here are a few sunflower photos from the past few days. Where I remember, I have added the name of the sunflower with the photo. All the seeds were purchased from Sunflower Selections. 

A budding ProCut variety

Blooming Procuts

Procuts are the variety that you purchase in the grocery store and farmers markets. They yield one flower per stem. They aren't my favorites because they are a little too perfect but I always grow them anyway because of their vase life. They come in many colors. 

This is one of my favorite sunflowers. It is called Stella Gold. It has very long thin petals. I love how it ages as the center grows and the petals become less prominent.

Here are some overall shots of the rows that have been blooming for a little while. 

Here is another view of my garden. You can see the zinnias and other flowers in front of the sunflowers. 

Here is a photo of my pottery studio where I have been spending some nice hours making. Can you see the dahlias blooming at the lower left. I have never had much luck with dahlias because I don't put them in early enough and I don't water enough. This year my sister Laurie gave me some tubers and at least the red ones are blooming. 

I hope your days and evenings are going well. Autumn officially begins this week. I can feel the season changing. Have a great day everyone.