Early in the spring, some small plants appeared in the garden bed at the back door. Being new to the garden, the house and the hemisphere, I was very loath to pluck them out despite them looking decidedly like weeds. By the end of spring, the little weeds had taken on some form and grown to the height of my knees. Perhaps they were not weeds after all….
All summer long, they grew and grew, taller than me, then taller than the fence. Their flat broad leaves welcomed the sun each morning and followed it until it set. My little weeds were still unidentified but perhaps the little no longer applied.
Near the end of summer, they started forming buds and one day, just a couple of weeks ago; they burst into flower – sunflowers the size of dinner plates - yellow and delightful, dancing on the breeze.
We enjoyed the plants’ effort of two seasons for no more than a week. A frost struck one morning and killed them! Withered, sapped and brown they flopped against the fence completely spent. Six months of growing, one week of flowering then dead – what an effort!
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