stiff sunflower

In the past couple of years, my Aprils and Augusts are taken up with a readathon I participate in. I am in the middle of the August portion of the readathon and am enjoying it immensely! This year I took a couple of days off from work to focus on the readathon.

The readathon involves so much more than reading! One of the challenges I decided to do had two parts. First, read two books with plants on the cover. Second, take photos of at least five flowers, and share them! I mentioned in the first post about the Common Mullein that I walked and took flower photos one day. That was initially to fulfill the second part of my challenge. What I don’t believe I mentioned before is that I was walking and photographing for three hours. It was so much fun and so relaxing. I appreciated the opportunity to be creative!

Every year I look forward to the return of the flower above. It is the Stiff Sunflower,scientific name Helianthus pauciflorus! It is a beautiful little flower! For years, I have been calling this bright spot in my summers a Brown-eyed Susan, knowing full well that a Brown-Eyed Susan is in the family Rudbeckia and that these were definitely not Rudbeckia. Because I am posting the photos I took for the readathon, I was researching information about the flowers, and learned the true name of this flower!

I adore the twisting petals in this image and have learned that they are due to the dry weather. When it is dry, the petals of this plant will twist and fold. This flower also serves as a source of nectar for the adult monarch butterfly!

Are there any flowers you look forward to every year? One of my favorites will be coming up soon!