I don’t believe it is possible to look at a sunflower without smiling.  I’ve tried to do so since mine began blooming and have determined it is just not possble.

As I stand on the ground and look up at the sunflowers, now nearly ten feet tall, I automatically smile. I don’t know if it is because I have to look up so far to see them, or if there is some other force making me smile, I just know I smile without even thinking about it whenever I see sunflowers.

This year, I’m growing a variety called ‘Heirloom  Titan’ from Renee’s Garden.  The tallest flower is at least ten feet tall and the only way to see it is to crane your neck back and look up.

And then you automatically smile.

I’ll bet you are smiling just reading about how sunflowers make you smile.

I think the secret is Mother Nature captures smiles from little kids and puts them in the sunflowers, thus causing anyone to look at them to smile.

The bees are smiling all over the sunflowers right now.  Every flower has six, eight, ten bees on it, all day long, all going nuts for the pollen and no doubt smiling while they do so.

In a few weeks, when the sunflower seeds begin to ripen, I plan to set a chair up in the garden and sit there and watch the birds perform their acrobatic stunts to get to the seeds.

It’s going to be a grand show, as the sunflowers, heavy with seed, nod toward the ground. The birds will have to be almost upside down to get to the seeds, no doubt smiling and laughing as they do.

And I’ll be smiling as I enjoy the show.

Sunflowers. Smile makers. Essential for my veg garden. Easy to grow from seed sown directly in the garden in the spring. Impressive amount of growth in one season, going from seed to ten feet tall in just three months.  If you’ve never grown sunflowers, grow them next year. They are super easy to grow, and they are guaranteed to make you smile.