Land of Giants

seedlings_2

I don’t usually have a great luck starting flowers from seed. Maybe it is my impatience – or just bad luck. But this spring, inspired to help out the bees, I found a “no-GMO” mix of bee-favorite flower seeds and sprinkled them in the Hummingbird garden where I thought they might thrive. Some Cosmos and Borage surfaced. Little did I dream that the few little sunflowers seeds in the packet would sprout these towering giants – now completely out of place in the small Hummingbird bed.

Sunflower_DSC_8530
Garden_DSC_0794

I planted Amaranthus as I did last year. These fast-growing plants with their pearl-like flower reached only about a foot last summer.

Amaranthus_DSC_8255

I thought they would be a pretty addition to the annuals section of the iris bed. This year, they look like small trees and are completely ridiculous in their space.

Garden_DSC_0791

They would look even sillier, if it were not for the gigantic sunflowers that Maria placed behind them. Most of her sunflowers this year are a bit shy on growth. But not these jack-in-the-beanstalk monsters which tower over everything in the garden.

Maria_Sunflower_DSC_8393

We had to put her on a ladder to give a true sense of their height.

Sunflower_Measure_DSC_8397

Sometimes big is just too big.

Sunflower_Measure_DSC_8407

Same for this pup.

Ned-15-6_13

When Ned arrived, he weighed in at over 95 lbs. and was experiencing seizures. A charming young woman named Lesley chose this giant ball of fur as hers to take home and care for.

Ned_5

Over the course of a year, she helped him to lose more than 20 lbs. through better diet and exercise. In the process – he also shed the seizures.

Ned_3

She wrote a lovely letter to us sharing their journey. It seems that in rescuing Ned (now Chewie) – Chewie rescued Lesley and was her support through a very tough year. You can read her story here.

Giant size…sometimes too much.

Giant heart…never enough.

Ned_4