Rewilding My Lot

Converting a new developer lot into a nature ecosystem — my journey

Sunflowers

With such a plain landscape in the early weeks here, I was thrilled to see at least two varieties of volunteer sunflowers arrive. The seeds might have been in the soil already, or perhaps dropped by passing birds. Unless they are in the way, I am letting them grow through their flower and seed cycle.

Sunflowers in front of the house
Sunflowers beside the house

In addition to just generally being cheerful plants, these are some other benefits that I have seen:

  • They have been visited by birds and butterflies.
  • Some of them grow so big (over 6ft) that they’re providing a little local shade.
  • When they eventually get removed, they are being chopped up for compost or mulch. The amount of biomass that they have produced in such a short period of time is truly impressive, and I don’t want to waste that gift of organic matter.

And here is my favorite sunflower photo so far — where a butterfly becomes a mustache.

Sunflower with butterfly mustache
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rewildingmylot

8 responses to “Sunflowers”

  1. Meredith Clarage Avatar
    Meredith Clarage

    🌞🌻😁

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Christine Y Lewis Avatar
    Christine Y Lewis

    so pretty!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. We Need Caterpillars! – Rewilding My Lot Avatar
    We Need Caterpillars! – Rewilding My Lot

    […] Even before I’d had a chance to plant much of anything here, we were blessed with an abundance of volunteer sunflowers. (See earlier post: Sunflowers) […]

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  4. “State Of The Garden” After Six Months – Rewilding My Lot Avatar
    “State Of The Garden” After Six Months – Rewilding My Lot

    […] unplanned by me, but a nice bonus, was the arrival of several volunteer sunflower plants, which served to make the garden more cheerful, and to provide food and shelter for a number of […]

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  5. How Can Sunflowers Be So Sturdy? – Rewilding My Lot Avatar
    How Can Sunflowers Be So Sturdy? – Rewilding My Lot

    […] sunflowers were a welcome gift to this new and barren lot. I’ve written about them before, here and […]

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  6. The Last Sunflower Has Been Taken Down – Rewilding My Lot Avatar
    The Last Sunflower Has Been Taken Down – Rewilding My Lot

    […] To have received so many volunteer sunflowers in this first year here has been such a gift. They have colorfully provided food for birds and insects that I hadn’t planned and I’ve enjoyed watching all that. […]

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  7. Culling Sunflowers – Rewilding My Lot Avatar
    Culling Sunflowers – Rewilding My Lot

    […] Last year the land here was rather barren because it was a new development lot with nothing but builder-installed turf and landscape plants that were mostly not nature-friendly. As I was in the process of clearing, planting, and planning, I was thrilled to see volunteer sunflowers arrive and really cheer things up. […]

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  8. The Tallest Plant In The Garden Is Not A Tree – Rewilding My Lot Avatar
    The Tallest Plant In The Garden Is Not A Tree – Rewilding My Lot

    […] time last year, sunflowers were just about the only flowers I had in what was still a very bare lot. They were enjoyed by insects, birds, and […]

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About Me

Nature Lover.
Inquisitive Observer.
Student Gardener.

I invite you to join me on my journey to convert my sterile (from a nature point of view) new house lot to a healthy and diverse ecosystem, as I make discoveries, mistakes, and hopefully progress. I am not an expert or professional. The project started in February 2023 and the location is Seguin, Texas, USA.

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