August 31, 2003

There's no telling with sunflowers. One squirrel, one thunderstorm, and you're out of business. But when they take, and the rodents dine elsewhere, and storms pass by just a few miles to the south or north, you have something of true magnificence. Such is the case with Laurie's Mammoth, which has been spared to grow, spared to flourish. Starting from a single Burpee Mammoth seed in June, this sequoia among sunflowers now reaches up into the blue, vying with the cupola of our neighbor's home and the steeple at St. Mary's of the Lake.

"I'm ready for my close-up."

Gardener communes with creation