Sunshine on a Grey Day in the City

This morning we woke to dense fog.. first time I have seen that for a while. It hasn't been cold just overcast and dull. We have these flowers growing along the front fence and when my cousin gave them to me she said, growth them where you don't mind them spreading. They are wonderful as a cut flower as they last for a long time in water.

The name of this lovely yellow flower is Helianthus Maximiliani..or Maximilian Sunflowers. They are tall perennials with one or more stalks and long, narrow, pale green leaves. They produce large bright yellow flowers up to three inches across in a spiral around the stem. This common urban plant grows from 1 - 10 feet high, but are usually around 4 - 6 feet tall.

Maximilian sunflowers are yellow flowered perennials that provide food and shelter for a wide variety of wildlife. Butterflies enjoy the nectar from the masses of late summer blooms that form a spiral around the stalk. Birds, deer and other wildlife enjoy the seeds produced in the fall.

Most sunflowers are annuals, which means that they live for only one year, but Maximilian sunflowers are perennials and come back for many years from their roots. A single plant will slowly form a growing circular colony over a number of years.

Sunflowers are heliotropes (sun lovers) and the flower heads turn to follow the sun as it moves across the sky. Look at the next field of sunflowers that you see. On a sunny day all of the flowers will be facing the same direction.

Native Americans grew sunflowers as a source of food, oil, dye and thread. Early pioneers planted sunflowers near their homes. They believed that sunflowers repelled mosquitoes and that a bath in boiled sunflower blossoms relieved arthritis pain.
For more inforation on the Maximilian sunflowers