Ode to the Sunflower

My Ode to the Sunflower. No one can look at a sunflower, and not think Happy Thoughts. At least, I don't think anyone can. I know I can't. I have been wanting to do a blog on all the different magickal attributes to the flowers in my garden. But going through my pictures, I have SO many pictures of sunflowers, that, they needed their OWN blog spot ;-) So here goes.

 What I love most about the Sunflowers in my yard, are that they are of the *Midnight Variety* so I get many different colors. My abhorrence to the color yellow helped me pick out this particular variety. And I am pleased every year at the different colors that come up. I have my favorites, of course. But even the yellow ones, make me smile :)

The Reds are one of my favorite. In Magickal correspondece the Sunflower is Masculine in the element of Fire with the Sun as it's planetary alignment. It welcomes and invites the blessings of the Sun into your gardens, or home. The seeds are eaten by women to promote fertility.

Sunflowers are also great Bee attractions! If you look closely here, you will see the busy bee at work. They also bring the feathery friends in, which, you will see in a later blog post, as I love getting out in the garden and capturing my feathery friends at work too.

Sunflowers can also help boost spells for workings such as gaining affluence, confidence, or grandeur. It can also help you to stand out in a crowd. According to flower folklore, sleeping with a sunflower beneath your pillow will tell you the truth in any matter. In florigraphy, the sunflower symbolizes haughtiness and ostentation. Other definitions declare that this solar flower says you have lofty but pure goals. Magickally the sunflower is used to symbolize fame, riches and royalty. Growing the tall flowers in your sunny gardens is thought to bring success and good fortune to the gardener of the home. { from Ellen Dugans book Garden Witch's Herbal }

When we moved into the house we live in now, about 7 years ago. There was NO YARD to speak of. In fact there wasn't one blade of grass in the yard at all. The previous owners, had 3 huge black labs that lived in the chain linked fence yard { and it isn't a big yard by any means } so it was barren, rocks, sand, dog poop, that was it. We moved in during February, in March we started raking all the rocks and dog poop up and started tilling in sheep and cow poop. { Hey, some poop is good, some is bad :-/ } On St. Patricks Day that year we planted 3 trees in the yard and started sewing grass seed. I also planted this ONE packet of Midnight Variety Sunflowers, and they have not stopped coming back yet! It is amazing, how they spread...haha! Anyone who has planted these will know. So now every year, I transplant some to different area's of the yard, as well as give them away freely to any neighbor who will take them. I have even had my husband mowing around the certain ones that pop up surprisingly in the yard.

Last year I had so many sunflowers come up in the herb garden that I am thinking I will have to try thinning them out of there this season. While sunflowers ARE considered in the herb variety, they have a tendency to want to take over EVERYTHING. By the end of the season last year, I could barely see the other herbs in my herb garden that WERE flourishing.    

While the flowers on my sunflowers do not get as big as say the Dinner Plate variety; the stalks on these still get to be 10 feet tall sometimes. During the Monsoon season which hits about July, I sometimes go out and tie them up so the winds don't break them down. Once they are secure, they really go to town getting big and stretching up to the sun as high as they can.

These are some of my favorite colored ones.

Last Summer I had two of my favorite colored ones growing just outside the fence. Before I could get out and get a picture of them the next day, I found this. Someone else had thought they were beautiful and came along and cut and stole them! lol While my first initial reaction was DANG IT! I then stopped and thought...awww...I certainly hope they are enjoying them as much as I do. Because, as a Garden Witch, I know, that some flowers, were meant to be stolen.