Sunflowers at the Church Garden

The Sunflower in this picture was started by seed this May by children in the Gardening for God program, in lieu of Vacation Bible School. I absolutely could not believe how tall the church garden Sunflowers grew. It was our first year of the new garden, and the soil seemed heavy with clay. I worked closely with Ellen Ackerman, the sponsor of the Gardening with God program at Rejoice Lutheran Church this spring and summer. The picture you see is a close up of about a 12 foot tall Sunflower. Gorgeous. The perimiter of this bloom is at least 12 inches. The kids watered weekly and Ellen and I took turns watering as the garden needed it. Since we had a drought a good deal of the summer, we had to water frequently. We hauled containers of water up the hill from the church spigot. This was easier than dragging a hose across the parking lot regularly. What a joy to see these blooms. Soon the birds will feast on the Sunflower seeds.