I’ve been on a hunt for sunflowers lately.  All sizes, all shapes, the important thing was that they were yellow.  I want sunflowers in my yard and I’ve found a few wild ones off the side of the road, but by the time I was preparing my shovel, they were gone.  Victims of the mighty roadside crews keeping things cleaned up after all the rain we’ve had this year.

A neighbor in the addition has huge ones growing in her curb-side garden and was kind enough to give me one as I walked the dog one evening.  She said they came up from seed scattered from last year’s crop and she kept them for the birds.  She also said to come back later and she would give me some seeds once they’re dry.  She was such a dear and I plan to take her up on that offer later in the season.

In my book Secrets of Sandhill Island, Meg grows sunflowers in her vegetable garden and Alex says they remind him of her hair in the sunshine.  She is in her element on the beach in the sun, he tells her as he warms heart and brings her out of her self-induced shell.  Sunflowers can do that – well that and a good man.

A great summer should have a balance of sunflowers and good beach-reads.  Secrets of Sandhill Island – due out soon – fills the bill with both.  Summer is quickly coming to a close and the sunflowers will be gone soon.  I hope to find some to plant for next year. Summers are never long enough.