The tall sunflower.
Summer may be winding down but my plants are not.
Oh, sure some have gone by the wayside that are not great in this heat we are having. The tomatoes are coming in fast and furious from our garden. But just look at my sunflowers.
The tallest looks to be eleven or twelve feet tall. In another day or two it will reach the window on the second floor of our house. The smaller ones may only be eight or nine feet tall but they have been great for attracting gold finches. The birds hang upside-down to feed on some of the seeds of the sunflower.
Full view of the plant
Plus there have been butterflies galore and hummingbirds taking a rest on the stems. That little spot of red you see just under the porch ceiling on the left is the hummingbird feeder my husband has placed to encourage the hummers to come around.
I have had sunflowers in this patch before but never like this. I have never had the response like this to them before.
I am beginning to think that I had better remember to grab some seeds from these plants so I can have great sunflowers next year.
But this is not the only tall plant I have that was unexpected. I have one hollyhock plant that seems determined to make it to eight or nine feet tall.
Most years this plant gets up to seven feet at the most. But I think the hot weather has encouraged a tremendous growth spurt.
I assume that the shape and color of the flower would be enticing to hummingbirds as well but I have not seen them around that plant.
Now if you look carefully, you will see a row of tomatoes on the porch rail. I think that was today’s pick alone.
There is the tall Hollyhock, by the porch support column.
Here is what I know. By the time the husband gets to bed tonight a number of tomatoes will have been turned into pasta sauce starter which is so nice in the winter when fresh tomatoes are no-where to be found. Sure, they come in from another part of the world but who know where or how long those tomatoes have had to travel. Enough of the “Eat Local” lecture.
How about your garden? Do you have a plant growing way beyond expectation?
Notes from Rumbly Cottage 
I have wanted to start a garden but too many bunnies. We have tons & they eat every flower & even some evergreens this last winter so I dont even try.
Your mention of hummingbirds remind me of some hummingbird photos I took a while back. I think I’ll have to post some of them soon. They’re silouhettes.
Thank you for stopping by my blog today, I enjoyed reading yours.
I think we are having a problem with bunnies as well. My cosmos will be there and fine as they sprout from seed. Two days later – completely gone. And then the husband steps right where I have planted the seeds.
Oh my goodness, those are some fabulously tall flowers! So cool! We’ve had trouble with bunnies in our yard since spring. Lately, they like to eat the hostas and the grass, but back in spring they were eating our bulbs!
I wish knew a better way to discourage bunnies besides fencing. It is obvious the feral cats are not taking care of the rabbit population in our neighborhood. They love my crocus in the spring.
We plant sunflowers each year and the current ones are about 12 feet. The squirrels are tearing them up, though. Lots of big, tall, thick stalks, but just a couple flowers so far. We usually get our seeds from Burpees…my father-in-law always has a nice garden and he swears by Burpees.
Tomatoes aren’t doing so good…a lot of them are gigantic, but splitting open and rotting before they’re ripe. 😦 Green peppers are doing good, though.
Carrie, sorry to hear about your tomatoes. Dale has been picking them at medium size;don’t know if that makes a difference. He gets them when the tomatoes are orange-red and lets them finish on the porch. Our sunflowers are volunteers. The bird feeders are on the porch and leave a bunch of seeds. I might just do sunflowers in that patch from now on as the birds have discouraged anything from growing there with their foraging for fallen goodies.