My Last Chocolate Brown Sunflower Bouquet


Cherry Rose Sunflower

I just picked the last large bouquet of sunflowers out of my garden plot and it felt bittersweet.  I grew 103 chocolate brown sunflowers for Monica’s wedding.  I have diligently cut them every two days for the past month and a half to make them create new blooms.  And they peaked two and a half weeks ago and now they are done six days before her wedding.  Six days!  So close. But, I knew that it was a long shot with a frost looming this month.  

Practice bouquet for Monica

I grew five different kinds of sunflowers: Cherry Rose, Velvet Queen, Red Sun, Moulin Rouge, and Evening Sun.  And they were all stunning.  I learned that they needed to be picked just when the blooms barely started to open to last 7 days in a vase. 

Evening Sun Sunflower bud 

Instead of deadheading the sunflowers, I picked them all just as they started to open and I shared them with my friends, neighbors, and visitors exploring the community garden.  When I handed a dark Velvet Queen sunflower bloom to a young boy he looked into the dark velvety bloom and asked, “Is it dead?”

Velvet Queen Sunflower

Several older women chided me for not letting the flowers go to seed.  Which seems a bit silly to me.  It’s my garden; go buy your own seeds!  But, I diplomatically told them that I’ll let the last couple of blooms go to seed for them.  

Red Sun Sunflower unfurling

One of my friends asked for some flowers for her son to give to his girlfriend for their Homecoming dance and I created a sunflower hand bouquet for her.  I used a pinterest design that Monica suggested using for her wedding bouquet.  And it turned out great.  When my friend dropped by to pick it up, I found myself not wanting to part with it yet, which amused me.  I'm so glad that I took pictures.  Isn't it pretty?  





Even though I wasn't able to use the sunflowers for Monica's wedding, I'm grateful that I grew them.  I highly recommend sharing your flowers with the people you care about.  Everyone can use a little more beauty in their day, even Sadie, The Assistant.