Sunflower Forest...

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Joined
Mar 24, 2002
Messages
6,243
Location
Oregon City, Oregon
I've been in my house 25 years. Used to be, I'd plant sunflowers each year, just because I love them. It's been a long time since I've planted any. I no longer need to, as the birds do all the seed-planting for me. Every sunflower in this photo was planted by them. 8)

Perfect Creation. The birds know to plant them, the plants know when to grow and when to turn to seed. The flowers even know to follow the sun throughout the day, every day. And the next morning, the flowers are back to looking East, knowing the sun will soon be warming them.

 
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
2,271
Location
Orange County, CA
One of my favorite plants, especially the self-planting ones! Thought to have been the first agricultural food crop in the Americas (proven at a Mexican site by some very convincing--and lucky--archeological evidence).

In Spanish they're called "tornasoles" or "girasoles" because of that daily adjustment to get the maximum sunlight. But does anyone know WHY they do that? Flowers don't turn solar energy into chemical energy thru photosynthesis like leaves, do they?

Maximum pollinator attraction? Just to make us wonder?
 
Joined
Mar 24, 2002
Messages
6,243
Location
Oregon City, Oregon
Mike Armstrong said:
One of my favorite plants, especially the self-planting ones! Thought to have been the first agricultural food crop in the Americas (proven at a Mexican site by some very convincing--and lucky--archeological evidence).

In Spanish they're called "tornasoles" or "girasoles" because of that daily adjustment to get the maximum sunlight. But does anyone know WHY they do that? Flowers don't turn solar energy into chemical energy thru photosynthesis like leaves, do they?

Maximum pollinator attraction? Just to make us wonder?

This caused me to do at least a little research. And apparently there's at least a little dissension between learned individuals about why sunflowers follow the sun.

I always presumed the flowers followed the sun to capture energy for photosynthesis. And I did read at least one little paragraph agreeing with me. But most paragraphs suggest they follow the sun to attract the most bees. Warm flowers make happy bees. Happy bees are busy bees. Busy bees visit more flowers. :wink:

I wake up very early. It's a curse. I go out in the yard to water in the early AM, and visit the flowers while I'm at it. I've discovered the bees are already visiting the sunflowers at the very earliest light. I've discovered also, the bees don't give up until it's past dusk. And sometimes the bees stay interested in the sunflowers until it's too late, and things cool off, including the bees. Then they are kind've trapped on the flower until morning. Cool bees turn dormant easily.

I've also discovered, more little flying insects, bugs, whatever, are attracted to sunflowers than my other flowers. A sunflower at any time might play host to multiple species of flying insects simultaneously. Honey bees, bumble bees, flies, unidentified bees, will harvest pollen on the same flower at the same time. And wasps have an interest in the leaves. Sugar?

My tomatoes are struggling to produce this year. Plenty of blossoms, but while I have hundreds of bees at a given moment on my sunflower crop, I might have none on my tomato blossoms. An old farmer might know this. Bees apparently turn their noses up at tomato blossoms when there's sunflowers nearby.
 
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
2,271
Location
Orange County, CA
I'm inclined to the "attract more pollinators" theory on the basis of WAYNO's observations. And members of the sunflower family are really good at all stages of reproduction; ask anyone who fights with dandelions, who have their own airforce! (I think the family is called "Asteracea" or something like that now--when I studied that stuff about the time dinosaurs stalked the earth, they were called "Compositae").

When I was working at University of Idaho in the early 1980s, the ag engineering students modified an old Ford tractor to run on sunflower oil (big crop in ID in those days). It ran fine and smelled like the popcorn machine in lobby of a movie theater (remember those?).
 
Joined
Mar 24, 2002
Messages
6,243
Location
Oregon City, Oregon
I will now cause just a little thread drift here.

While I was taking pictures of my flowers, I heard this noisy old bird flying high over my sunflowers. I snapped a photo.



Zooming in, I was able to identify this beautiful old bird, a DC-3. :mrgreen:
 
Joined
Dec 11, 2002
Messages
8,966
Location
Ohio , U.S.A.
very nice picture, we have large fields of sunflowers over near us, prayers for Maria,in Avon ,Ohio
https://www.prayersfrommaria.org/marias-field-hope/marias-field-hope-avon-oh


and I swear I flew that same plane. late in the summer of 1965 to Lackland,AFB., Texas........ :shock:
wings flapping, and flames coming out of the engines... 8) :roll: :wink:
 
Joined
Dec 19, 2001
Messages
10,105
Location
Alaska, Idaho USA
This is the first year we've put out a bird feeder. The first few bags we bought had sunflower seeds in it. Not sure whether or not the birds appreciated it, but I won't be surprised it some sunflowers peak out their heads next spring.
 

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