Sunflowers and Hope
August 30, 2014
The face of a sunflower
“Alm0st all lives are small. What enlarges a life is the inner life, are the thoughts, are the sensations, are the useless hopes . . . Hope is like a sunflower which turns aimlessly toward the sun. But it is not ‘aimless.'”
— Clarice Lispector, The Streams of Life
Buckets of sunflowers, Pike Place Market
Rosemary's Blog 
August 30, 2014 at 6:55 am
I love sunflowers. It is true that their movement isn’t aimless. They follow the sun from east to west, but only while they’re developing.
Younger sunflowers with heads not yet pollinated will engage in heliotropism. Once the plant is mature and pollination has been completed, the sunflower faces east and doesn’t move westward with the sun. It’s so neat – there’s more about heliotropism here.
August 31, 2014 at 8:05 am
Thanks for the link about heliotropism. I never knew that following the sun stopped at the flower’s maturity. Nor that sunflowers were native to North America. I wonder how they got to Provence were van Gogh painted them?
August 30, 2014 at 7:07 am
Sunflowers always make me smile…lots of smiles here!
August 30, 2014 at 5:34 pm
I have been enjoying the blog. It does an old friend good. Union Hill Carl
August 31, 2014 at 8:01 am
Greetings, Carl. How nice to hear a voice from my past. It’s weird thinkjng of my blog as the connection to childhood friends.
August 31, 2014 at 11:56 am
Good Day Rosemary,
I had initially gone to Google looking for information on peonies. Your blog was among the offerings. I was enjoying the blog, paging through and saw the sad portion on the passing of your Father. Up until then, I did not realize it was you. I have enjoyed your writings and photos. Take care.
Carl