This year was the first time I had ever grown sunflowers from seeds, so I put them in pots in the back garden. They came out very late, in fact only starting blooming a couple of weeks ago, and I was over the moon with the results.
For some strange reason, I ended up with 2 huge ones in the front garden which must have been dropped by the birds somehow .....which end...I don't know!!!
Anyway, one in particular was fabulous, about 10"-12" in diameter, and every member of the family used to admire it when going down the drive. But this morning, as my husband was having his cup of tea, he looked out of the front window and asked me what had I done with the big sunflower? I of course told him nothing at all, and to our dismay, it had gone!! stolen....pinched...flower nabbed!!
None of us can believe that someone had walked all the way up the path to the front of the house, just to cut off my sunflower.
It's a lovely neighbourhood that we live in, very quiet, and with lots of retired people, so this is unbelievable. All we can think of is that someone wanted to take it home with them to put in their home, or it was some deranged phantom sunflower thief that had been let out of the hospital for the evening
Anyway, just wanted to vent because i'm really angry and upset that someone has done this, so sorry to bend your ears.
Take care
Mrs.D.

That's sad...
I know how you feel..
in a round about way..
The first year here with my first garden,
I had some small pumpkin's, and one big one
I'd grown.. and a couple odd ball gourds/small
pumpkins a relative gave my baby...
and for Halloween, kids came and smashed all
of my pumpkins and the one's he'd been given.

They apparently had done it to alot of houses'
so I wasn't the only one..
and come to find out they found out who did it,
and made them scrape up every bit of every pumpkin
they'd thrown...

Hopefully, we can look on the bright side for
your big sunflower, maybe they wanted some seeds to grown their own and or feed the birds...
We can hope it was something nice behind the bad action..

ANDDDDDDDDDD, ask your neighbors if they saw anything, you'd be surprised how many neighbors
actually do see things...never know...'til you ask.

* * * *
Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

Hi HOOP....Hi WEEZ

Thanks for the kind thoughts, they are appreciated.


I dont know whether it's because it's the first time i've actually planted some sunflower seeds (been meaning to do it since the boys were small, and they're now 24 and 18!!), or because they actually grew into really big sunflowers, but i feel like it's personal. I know it sounds like i'm a big softie....(well i am really!!), but every day, i used to tell it it was doing great...and it just grew and grew!!!

WEEZ..i've told the neighbours, and they were shocked too. Couldn't believe it had happened, as no-one else in the neighbourhood has had anything taken. I even asked the milkman this morning, because he comes so early, if he had seen anything, and he just stood there with his mouth open. He had'nt seen anything, but he did say he has been growing them for years, and never seen one that big or perfectly round. He said that he had admired it every morning, when he passed it. So, that was nice...that it gave other people pleasure. I tend to think that someone just cut it off to put it in their home.

TO RUGBYHUKR...... that is the best laugh i've had for ages!!

I told me husband this morning on the 'phone, (he's away on business at the moment) and he thought it was hilarious, so thanks.

Once again, thanks for the kind thoughts and your experiences.

Take care

Mrs.D.

I'm hopin' for the best, that they
wanted to feed the birds and didn't have
enough money???

but doesn't justify the taking it...

But also, maybe GOD's way of putting
several people in your path, to chat with, like
the neighbors....post here and get some good
response's * positive one's *
and to have a good chuckle, for yourself,
and your hubby so far away, with Rugby's post..

He works in mysterious ways you know !!!!!

And the thrill of not giving up, and to do it again next year...
And a lesson to learn in gardening as well...
*the birds do drop them, or they fall to the ground the previous years' sunflower* and are
wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy bigger than one you can ever direct plant or start early in pots..
So, you learned a valuable gardening lessen..
and next year, you'll plant a ba~zillion of them,
enough to enjoy, share with the birds, and the passer's~by!!! *ohhhhhhh and keep some seeds for yourself, that is too*

I grew all sorts of lovely's this year, lemon colored one's, giants, powder puff one's like~Teddy bear one's I think they're called..
rust colored ones, ohhhhhh, I can't think of the diffent one's I grabbed... but the birds are sure enjoying themselves this year, and it's between mine and my mom's house, so the two of us are getting some extra enjoyment watching those wee~birds get some good chow...

* * * *
Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

quote:

---

Originally posted by weezie13:
I can't think of the diffent one's I grabbed...

---

Are you confessing, Weezie?

Dianna

* * * *

I know EXACTLY how you feel! Last year I finally found a plant that was worthy of the heart shaped hanging planter I'd brought home from my daughter's wedding the year before. (Spray-painted white, & hung on every pew with bouquets & ribbons/lace... beautiful!) Anyway, I hung it on the front of our house, & 4 days later it was GONE!

At first I was confused & wondered if I'd just dreamed putting it there or if I was having some sort of insanity episode!
Then came the anger! (Mind you, we live on a dead-end street & have only 1 neighbor, so nobody BUT NOBODY casually passes by here on their way TO anywhere... except deer & skunks, heading for the abandon field, west of us! Someone had to deliberately come into my yard & blatantly steal that planter!)

I tried not to let my mind suspect my neighbor (Mr. Nasty), simply because it's not a Christian thing to do (he & his wife live on the east side of us & just so happen to be the most un-neighborly, rude, unreasonable people I've ever met in my life), and I had absolutely no basis on which to accuse anyone... other than having seen Mr. Nasty come to our yard & look around 1 day when my car was in the shop & he probably thought nobody was home here, but that's hardly grounds to indict him!

Then, came the paranoia! We stopped leaving the keys in our cars, & stopped leaving the garage wide open all the time, & I even locked the doors when I was home alone all day & locked everything up tight at night for a while, even though nothing else was missing when the planter disappeared!

So anyway, long story/short (AHH! too late!), I was very saddened by the loss of such a special souvenir, & also because I couldn't even find another plant to replace the 1 I'd lost. (I'd left the marker in the planter, so I can't even say what it was!)

OK, so fast-forward to this year ~> ~> Upon hearing that my planter had been stolen, my daughter shipped hers to me from Maui (even though she'd ended up with only 1, too). Still paranoid & not wanting to take any chances again, I found a plant for it & hung it on my garden gate this time...INSIDE MY FENCED BACK YARD! Upon our return from a week's vacation in Montana, we discovered that... you guessed it.... the planter was GONE! Only this time, the mundane plant that had been in it had been dumped out! GRRR!

A few weeks after that, we put an iron plant hanger next to the walkway in front of the house & I bought a beautiful Fuschia & a fancy hanging planter for it... which also grew legs/wings/whatever, a week later! I thought about setting up the camcorder in the front window, aimed at the plant hanger, & turning it on whenever I went to the store... but I never got around to it! Instead, I fished out a yucky regular hanging planter from the shed & stuffed a couple fistfuls of Creeping Violet in it, which had taken over part of a flower bed, & tied the planter hook to the iron hanger with about 2 feet of bailing wire! (A thief would have to had thought to bring wire cutters with him if he wanted THIS 1!) Needless to say, that stupid looking set-up still hangs there today!

Incidentally, I've learned thst Mr. Nasty will be gone soon, & while I'm still not comfortable about accusing him in my mind, somehow I feel that next year when I hang something nice in my yard & turn my back, it'll stay there! (and wouldn't it be great if they have a yard sale after he's gone, & I can maybe buy my heart planters back!!!)

I do wish you better luck next year with your Sunflowers & I hope they turn out bigger & better than the potential prizewinner that got pinched from your yard this year! (I think it was just plain meanness on someone's part, as Sunflowers don't even make good cut flowers, & nobody got more than a couple hours of enjoyment of its beauty!) SMILE... there ARE more where that 1 came from... ... & we keep on planting!

* * * *

To all of you, thank you so much for all your experiences and kind thoughts for me. It saddens me that I am not alone in this, though to be honest, i didnt think i would be.
I only wrote this post because i was so upset and angry, but i knew you guys would understand.
I'm really sorry to all of you that have had similar things happen to you, i know how you feel.
I just thought that people would maybe pinch expensive, extravagant plants or shrubs, not just normal ones that grow quite easily. But judging from all of your anecdotes, it is quite the contrary. My family are just as angry as me, coz they've seen the time and effort i've put into the garden this year, but my youngest said to me i should take it as a compliment really. He said they were just very sad people who probably couldn't grow one like it, so took mine.
I've another 2 great big ones in pots in the back garden, which, only the day before my huge one was pinched, i was going to ask my hubby to carry to the front. Needless to say, they are not going anywhere!! lol
The birds don't feed off them because we actually go to the wholesalers to buy different bird foods in bulk. It's like a continual feeding machine around here!! Since i had to retire in March, and i've spent so much time in the garden, i put food out regularly and now we have an astonishing array of wildlife that come from about 6am to 1am or 2am the following morning. I feel really blessed to witness all of this first-hand, right in my own back garden and i thank God daily when i stand and look at them in awe. Even my husband went out and bought a bird book so we could find out what they were, where they're from and what they like to eat!! Bless him!!
We feed the 'early bird specials' at around 6am, the 'mid-morning brunchers' at about 10ish the 'lunch-time trade' at around 1pm then the 'afternoon crowd' at about 4pm!! In between, we feed the squirrels, who now feed from your hands.......we prepare food for the badgers in the evening, (the cub now comes around 10pm and the mum and dad come around 1am!!)....and then when i get up about 4am or 5am, i put food out for the foxes!!
Then i start again in the morning!!
It's a hard life....but someone has to do it!!lol
No, only kidding, i really enjoy it. The most simple pleasures in life like a beautiful bloom or nature on your doorstep makes you appreciate life so much more.
Anyway, i've rambled on again, so i appologize for the long post!!
Many, many thanks again, to all of you
Take care

Mrs.D.

Hi Patty,
Thanks for the post.
My youngest is 17....18 in January, my eldest is 24......both boys.
I brought them up the same way i had been brought up. My parents were European. My mummy was from Austria, and my daddy from Hungary. We never had much money, but the emotional security was unbelievable. We always had lots of affection, hugs and kisses. So i didn't know any other way
The thing is, is that we can talk about anything, and really stick together as a family unit. My husband came from a real 'english' family, where they never talked to each other about problems, or feelings etc. He can never, ever remember being kissed by his mum or his dad.....I thinks it's really sad. So when he met me, it was a whole new world for him. He loved it. Although it has taken a long time for him to realise you can share problems with people as well as sharing good times.!!
Anyway, i have tried to bring them up to be considerate to others, and to appreciate the simple things in life such as a good family, nature and wildlife. And most importantly, to have faith. It's not easy in this world today because unfortunatley there are some, in fact, a lot of really nasty people out there.
I've rambled on again...as you can see...i do that quite often!!lol
Thanks again for the post, it is nice that other people actually notice how my boys think.
Take care

Mrs.D.

WEEZ....Thank you so much. I think you are absolutely correct. If parents took a liitle more time with their children, it would really make a difference. I think that if you can help instill appreciation for good family values and for the amazing world that God created, including all the animals and nature, then hopefully, they will then carry it on to the next generation with their own family.

Anyway........back to sunflowers!!

I think your idea of forming rows of sunflowers next to a rail or bar is a great idea If you don't mind, i may just copy that idea...would that be ok with you?

Just bye-the-bye, i told my hubby what you said about those different types of sunflowers you had, and we both think that they would look fantastic over here in England (particularly in my garden!!!!!) ....the big puff-ball ones, and the ones in different colours etc. The only thing is, is that there are only 2 different types available that i can find, and that is the dwarf yellow ones, and the big yellow ones i have. Would you be so kind as to tell me what they're called, or if you have any spare seeds, could i buy some from you? I don't mind paying for the seeds and the carriage etc.

Anyway, thanks again, and take care

Mrs. D.

Okay, I'll tell you the one's I remember first..

Lemon Queen

Velvet Queen

Teddy Bear

Autumn Beauty Mix

Sunflower Sunset

And a Giant something or other,
I think Russian Giant, but can't remember..

* * * *
Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

quote:

---

I think your idea of forming rows of sunflowers next to a rail or bar is a great idea If you don't mind, i may just copy that idea...would that be ok with you?

---

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh and steal the idea
away~Please do!!!....
I was hopin' you'd like it, and try it.
*I love to hear how people did things, and we
all love to see pictures of the outcomes of them..

* * * *
Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

If you go to my photobucket link
at the bottom of my posts,
click on page 2 and 4 and there's a bunch
of them...*I still have more pictures
to download not only from the camera,
but upload them to Photobucket..
*Did some one say, Winter Project*

* * * *
Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

Hi, I lost my sunflower too. I looked up at the gigantic stem one day, all 12 ft or more of it believe it or not, the sunflower was gone. I found it on the ground close by, so I'm assuming the wind took it, or one of the blackbirds that love to go after anything yellow may have taken it off? I have a couple in my garden, and they are only about 6 ft tall, but have nice sunflowers on them. I prefer these to the jack in the beanstalk one I had in the backyard.