I’m not known for being the most patient gardener.
Zen-Den is aware of this.
He often warns new plants in the garden that they’d better get with it *pronto* or that they’ll be pulled out, tossed aside, and added to The List Of Plants That Make Ally Bean Snarl.
This little sunflower should be on that list by now, having been given 6 weeks [six weeks!] to show its inclination to grow tall– say, for instance, 4 feet tall as promised on its little garden nursery tag.
But no, this particular little sunflower, that looks a great deal more like a basic Black-eyed Susan than a fancy Sunfinity Sunflower, is blooming but not growing tall– the specific reason I put it where it is.
I’m flummoxed because I like the little yellow sunflower.
It’s pretty, but its lack of vertical spunk, as shown by its refusal to grow tall has left me in a quandary. Usually by now I would’ve pulled the flower out of the garden line-up.
Adding it to The List Of Plants That Make Ally Bean Snarl.
However, I must be getting soft in my old age because I’ve allowed this little sunflower to stay where it is, deluded by the hope, sans evidence, that it’ll have a growth spurt.
Where is my snarl? Who have I become?
And more to the point, do I like this mellow iteration of Ally Bean the Gardener? Have I *somehow* transformed into a patient Mother Earth sort of person, guiding the world to gardening goodness?
Or is this just another sign of the kind of indifference that suggests old age and decrepitude? To a garden filled with overgrown or undergrown [a word?] plants and weeds, a garden untended because it’s too work-y to take care of it.
I dunno.
No answers here. Just questions today.
I like black-eyed susans too and your clever lines, especially ” lack of vertical spunk”! 🙂
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marian, the thing about these little sunflowers is that… they look suspiciously like black-eyed susans and not like a special kind of pricy sunflower. I’m flummoxed, I tell ‘ya!
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Your little sunflower is a happy little plant! I’m glad you are giving it a chance. Maybe it’s a dwarf sunflower. And it looks like there are lots of blooms. Enjoy! And like the old saying goes, “Bloom where you’re planted.”
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Beth, this little sunflower is supposed to be about 4′ tall, a small sunflower but one that reaches for the sky– not lurks around near the ground. 🤨 However, you’re right– as long as it is growing, all is well.
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Perhaps you’re merely charmed by it. It’s making up for its deficiency in height by mere gumption and gladness. It’s like a Floral Little Engine That Could, winking at you with mischief.
Just smile and wink back.
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nance, excellent analysis and advice! I think you’re right. I’m not old, I’m charmed– so the little sunflower gets to stay in the garden.
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Yes! I agree with nance! That sunflower is trying you and winning.
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Akilah, oddly enough when I wrote this post I was feeling old and lazy about this sunflower, but now all of you have made me feel warm and cheery about this sunflower. Charmed, for sure.
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So this sunny girl is an “interspecific hybrid” according to the website. That raises more questions than your post Ms. Bean. Leave her be, she is pretty and seems to be blooming nicely, then next season go find some REAL sunflowers! Better yet, if you really want a challenge, and perhaps answer the mellow versus old-age questions, get a few packs of those mystery seeds that promise a lush wildflower garden and scatter them in the bed. Do you think your patience can handle that? 🙂
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Deb, I read about the Sunfinity, too. 🤔 It’s a little odd, but the garden nursery was pushing it so I thought why not give it a try. Although, like you suggested, next summer I’ll go with basic old sunflowers.
I planted zinnias from seed and am giving them all the time and space they need proving I can be patient… when I know that I’ll adore the results. Now those mixed-up wildflower seeds… I dunno about them!
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The flower is pretty – if age is softening you in favor of pretty things vs. high expectations, consider it wisdom and pour yourself a congratulatory glass of wine.
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Dan, I like your take on what to make of my change in attitude toward gardening! Yep, much lower expectations here, combined with much better quality wine. A win-win.
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I have a few bushes that did that, both ways. I have some viburnums that grow 6 to 8′. I pruned back at 10′. Then I have a variegated dogwood bush that grows to 6′. After 5 years it’s still struggling at 3′ and it’s in full sun! I’ve come to believe those dang tags are suggestions!
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Kate, I think that you’re right about those tags. I find that often reality is nothing at all like what the tag tells me is going to happen. We have some viburnums that get 10′ tall, too. And clearly this little sunflower isn’t doing what its tag suggested. You’ve figured it out. I’m not old, the tags mislead!
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Nature does not ask, “What does Ally Bean want me to be?”
A (dwarf) sunflower just blooms. 😀
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nancy, I think it’s about time for Nature to ask that very question! Considering I was sold this little sunflower with a tag that told me it’d be taller, I feel my expectations are not out of line. HOWEVER, I take your meaning and am pleased that the little flowers are as vibrant as they are.
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I might have a “chat” with the nursery who hung the wrong tag. In the meantime, enjoy those bright vibrant blooms.
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Yes, we’ll see if these plants are for sale in the garden nursery next year. I won’t be buying them again, but while they’re here I’ll enjoy them… down there… near the ground…
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Patience, my Dear Bean. Patience. It will grow.
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YES, yes, yes… you’re the garden guardian who defends the plants! And me? I’ll admit that I’m getting more indulgent regarding plants that don’t immediately take root. And this little sunflower is cute, so why not let it do its thing?
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If you’re not careful, your well-organized garden will turn into a jungle like mine! (I hate pulling anything)
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Eilene, I like weeding out things that don’t please me, but at the same time I’m learning to be pleased by more things… so the little sunflower is safe for the summer.
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LOLZ ‘The List Of Plants That Make Ally Bean Snarl” Go with the gardening flow, Ally. I grow the garden of ‘mislabled plants’ or ‘somebody be playing with those plant tags again’. I have a Dwarf Lilac that is 15 feet tall. I have creamy white double peonies mixed in with the single bloom pink peonies I specifically bought and planted so they wouldn’t fall over from weight. I could go on, but I won’t. The nice thing about those creamy white double peonies is that they have the most incredible scent. I like to think of a garden as a surprise. BTW, love those little yellow whatevers. 😉
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Elen, that’s a doozy of a Dwarf Lilac you have there! I like your concept of a garden of mislabled plants; obviously it’s one that I need to learn to embrace. I don’t know what the deal is with this cute little yellow sunflower [?] but having read what you, and other commenters, have said about it I feel better. I’m not old and confused in the garden, I’m wise and accepting. Yep, Ally Bean the Gardener, 2.0. That’s me.
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I like it!
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‘Yeah’ for giving the little Sunflower (or Black-Eyed Susan) a chance. Sometimes good things do come in small (or in this case, ‘short’) packages!
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Donna, laughing here. Well said, says she who is going to let the little [wrong?] flower stay where it is.
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“lack of vertical spunk”–Ha, that’s how I feel every morning when it’s time to get up. Just don’t feel like shifting to an upright position. 😁
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Carrie, I hear ‘ya. I find that I’m to a point when I get out of bed in the morning that I consciously say to myself: put two feet firmly on floor, then stand up. Like I’m old or something! 😟
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I definitely don’t spring out of bed like I used to. On second thought, I’m not sure I ever did…
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😊
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Hmmm…methinks your plant was mislabeled. Bummer, when you were specifically requiring height. I’m not the world’s most patient or loving gardener either, so I feel ya. It’s survival of the fittest at Chez Badass – indoors or out. If you thrive on neglect, you will do well under my (sporadic, inconsistent) care.
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Deb, I kind of wonder about that, too. If this is a black-eyed susan, then it’s doing great! I’m careful about planning what I put in the flower beds, but after the plants are in the ground… it’s up to the plant to impress me or it’s outta here. I want pretty, and I want it almost instantly.
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Have you tried Miracle Grow? I purchased a trailing vinca that was on the reduced (dead) table and after a few rounds of plant food, it’s thriving.
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Jill, that’s a great idea. No I haven’t tried that, but you’re onto something there. Thanks.
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Let me know!
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Will do.
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The only thing I ever intentionally tried to grow in my yard was sunflowers. Only one year did any of them make it past the seedling stage, and only a single solitary sunflower actually survived to stand tall…… er, relatively speaking anyway. It was a sad looking sunflower… more so than even your spunky little friend. But I liked it. It was so sad looking it was cute…
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evilsquirrel13, I’m impressed that you got at least one flower to grow from seed. Sunflowers, sad or otherwise, are a pretty color so if nothing else that’s how they get you to think that they’re cute.
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I love your way with words. Perhaps that flower is like a child with a club foot. You have to love it and give it some latitude for not being able to keep up with the other kids.
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Betsy, thank you. Sometimes I wonder about my wordsmithery skillz. Do I even make any sense? I’m giving this little sunflower all the latitude it needs. I’ve become a mellow gardener… oh yes I have!
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The flower thanks you.
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I bet that it does. Allow me to say “you’re welcome” to it. 🌻
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Awh. 🙂
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Lost your snarl – oh my. That is serious. I love sunflowers – they’re so cheery.
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Jan, I like sunflowers, too. Which is why I guess I haven’t been able to pull this slouch out of the ground. What it lacks in height, it makes up for in enthusiasm.
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It is disappointing when you think you have a certain plant all situated in the perfect spot only to find out maybe that isn’t the plan after all. Gardening is a lot of work, some enjoy it, some don’t, and as I age I do have a little more patience with it. After all, we’re not talking world peace here, just beautiful flowers that we hope grow tall. Right now, I have some seeds planted near two arbors and so far not a shoot has appeared. More patience needed I’m thinking. 🙂
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Judy, I agree that gardening is a lot of work. Most of the time I enjoy it, especially the planning part. My plan was to have sunflowers behind a concrete bench that is fronted by a row of dark peach roses. I thought the yellow and peach would look pretty together, and they do. Just not in the way I’d envisioned them. Hope your seeds decide to get with the program and sprout, your arbors deserve it!
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I think you and I were seated next to each other during gardening lessons.
“A garden untended because it’s too work-y to take care of it” pretty well describes my approach to outdoor maintenance. Personally, short or tall, I’d just be thrilled that the little one with an identity challenge is blooming like crazy. Call it a success and congratulation yourself! 🙂
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Joanne, as the day is wearing on I’m feeling more encouraged about this little sunflower plant. The colors are striking, and so what if it’s knee height instead of eyeball height? Like you said, it’s growing so let’s call it a success. 🌻
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In my garden, he would be a superstar! 🌻🌻🌻
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I’ll let him know. He’ll smile, no doubt. I did.
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I’m glad you left your sunflower/black eyed Susan where it is growing. It seems very happy. And it seems to be sharing its happiness with you. 😀
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L. Marie, yes you’re right. I’m usually too quick to give up on a plant, I guess. But this little sunflower [or black-eyed susan?] is making me happy today so it’s going to stay right where it is.
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Everything in my garden is undergrown except for the weeds and the wicked wisteria.
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Anne, funny how weeds know how to grow the best, isn’t it? I have no experience with wisteria, but I take it that it grows easily where you are!
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Wisteria practices a war of aggression. Nothing is safe. I wouldn’t take a nap on the bench under it for fear it would swallow me up.
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No kidding. It’s not planted around here, but I’ll file that info away in my addled brain… just in case we move somewhere wisteria-ful.
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I’m sure there are other plants just as lethal. In fact, our yard in NY was taken over by wild roses. I didn’t have any better sense and let them advance. The new owner had a bulldozer come in and get rid of them. It was already too late for the wisteria. It is firmly anchored to the ground and interwoven with the pergola. I jerked some weeds around this morning, so I’m feeling virtuous.
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I Am a patient gardener. But lemme tell ya, I didn’t used to like sunflowers. I planted them because Moo wanted them and I wanted the pollinators. Now I effing love sunflowers, because Ally Bean, you cannot snarl at them. They are relentlessly cheerful! They are the happiest flower ever.
Mine will be out toward the end of August. I’m willing to wait. Every year. They are one of the few happy things when it’s unbearably hot outside.
😀 😀 😀
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joey, I’m learning to embrace the gardening mellow, to let it all ride and enjoy it in the process. At first I took this behavior as a sign that I was getting old, but now I’m starting to think about it in light of being a nurturing Earth Mother.
Your sunflower plan sounds like a good one. I’ve tried to grow them from seed, but without much luck. That’s why I went for this little sunflower [that looks like a black-eyed susan but maybe isn’t]. You’ll post photos of your “real” sunflowers in late August, yes?
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You can be Earth Mother. Mmhm.
It’s kind of like how things are in life, otherwise. Especially people. Plants are like people. They kinda do what they want and await our response. Control in a garden is a minimal illusion. Mellowing is WISE.
Also, kind of like aging. You gotta let go and consider the final result, not necessarily the process along the way.
I will share the sunflowers when they’re all ready 🙂
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Control in a garden is a minimal illusion. The truth– that I’ve forgotten along the way! For the last few years I’ve been into making this house have curb appeal, so this little sunflower was/is supposed to be my last quirky touch. A way to show some individuality here on a suburban street. And the flower did, just not in the way that I wanted it to.
HOWEVER, I can be wise about this plant that is nothing, if not bright. Somehow I feel like this whole post should be filed under: The Best Laid Plans of Mice & Women.
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Maybe you have just realized that sometimes it’s better to take things as they are rather than insist that they conform to your expectations. I think it’s a healthier and less stressful way to approach life in general, but certainly your garden. Is this part of your “Let’s try to do things differently” phase?
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Janis, you’re a wise woman! Gardening is one of those areas in my life where I’ve always had EXPECTATIONS. And lately, say the last year or so, I’m beginning to realize that, to use your words, “it’s better to take things as they are rather than insist that they conform to your expectations.”
[Oddly enough when it comes to people I do exactly what you say, but when it comes to objects I FEEL like I SHOULD be able to CONTROL them.]
I hadn’t thought about it, but yes… this is part of my ‘let’s do things differently’ phase.
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I can’t pull out flowers that are alive and still blooming, even if the foliage is bedraggled. It looks much more like a yellow daisy than a sunflower, but it is cheery and trying its best. 🙂
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Margaret, I’m a cruel gardener, I guess. Or at least I used to be! I’ll pull out any plant that does not please me, but this little sunflower, if it is that, is so pretty that I’m letting it stay where it is. It’s a whole new day for Ally Bean the Gardener, nice and nurturing.
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I hope your struggling non-sunflower isn’t reading this. What will it do to her body image and self esteem?
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Rachel, you’ve a kind heart to worry about the little sunflower’s feelings. You’re right, of course. We’re saying some rather harsh things here about the poor little flower.
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Keep on talking to that pretty little black eyed susan – she’s gorgeous and will keep on reminding you to smile chill be mellow and yellow- 🌻🌻🌻
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Susan, yes, you’re right. There’s a message here from this little flower. You’ve summed up what I need to learn from this flower: “smile chill be mellow and yellow.” Am doing my best to do that.
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“too work-y to take care of it” – works for me…especially this time of year.
(Maybe you just hate killing things)
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philmouse, my attitude toward gardening seems to be changing. I still like it, just a little less of it! That might be the real message from this little sunflower incident.
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