Celebrate sunflowers

#MiddleburyCT #Sunflowers #MiddleburyLandTrust

A bumblebee – a native and pretty mellow kind of bee – enjoys the pollen and nectar of the florets that form the center of a sunflower that grew in Bronson Meadow last year. The flower shows the spirals that wind in opposite directions. (Janine Sullivan-Wiley photo)

By JANINE SULLIVAN–WILEY

One of the wonderful things about September is that last hurrah of late summer flowers blooming. That includes asters, Montauk daisies, rudbeckias, hardy mums and sunflowers. In Middlebury, we are treated to a whole field of sunflowers as, for the third year in a row, the Middlebury Land Trust (MLT) has its property at Bronson Meadow planted with sunflowers by Mike Jedd of Kalenauskas Farm.

Sunflowers are amazing. The common sunflower, Helianthus annuus, is a species of the daisy family Asteraceae. Small sunflower varieties grow only one to two feet tall, while the biggest reach 9-14 feet, and one variety can hit 12-16’ in height. Blooms of the giant types can be up to 18” across. The flowers are interesting as well. The flower head is made up of the center part – small, individual five-petaled flowers called florets, surrounded by ray flowers, which we would think of as the petals. The center flowers are what mature into sunflower seeds.

Some very interesting math is involved in sunflowers. The arrangement of the flowers in the middle includes “golden angles” of 137.5 degrees and “Fibonacci numbers.” The former describes how each floret is oriented to the next one, producing interconnecting spirals. The number of left spirals and the number of right spirals are successive Fibonacci numbers, a series in which each number is the sum of the two preceding ones, starting with 0 and 1. This pattern – developed by nature, not some mathematician – produces the most efficient way of packing the most seeds into the flower head.

Fun fact: Those sequences and numbers are found in other places in nature including the petals of lilies and delphiniums, the spirals on pineapples, the spiral shape of shells like the nautilus, and even the spiral structure of hurricanes. Take a close look at a sunflower, shell or flower some time and the spiral shape will be so much more amazing. And you can impress your friends by noting that the spiral pattern demonstrates a Fibonacci number sequence.

Back to some of the other aspects of sunflowers. They are native to the Americas, and were first domesticated here. They like fertile, moist and well-drained soils but can tolerate quite a bit of dry. Watch the progression of the plants in Bronson Meadow to see how they respond to rain and hot, sunny days. A common myth (one that I thought was true until researching to write this) is that the flowers re-orient themselves throughout the day to face the sun. Immature flower heads do this (it’s called heliotropism), but as they mature and grow quite heavy (as anyone who has picked them can vouch for), they stop doing this and then they all face in one direction, usually towards the east. I will now be paying attention as the flowers start and then mature in Bronson Meadow. It always amazes me how much nature can teach us when we look closely.

If you’re interested in taking photos or picking some of the sunflowers in Bronson Meadow, the MLT will be holding its third annual Sunflower Days on Saturday and Sunday, September 6 and 7, with a one-day rain date of September 13. There is no admission charge to wander the rows for photos. Pick-your-own bouquets will be available for two stems for $5, six for $15, and twelve for $20. If you cannot get there that weekend, please contact this writer (email below) to see if a special visit time can be arranged. The flowers are NOT free at other times.

For questions or comments, contact this writer at jswspotlight@gmail.com. You can visit the Middlebury Land Trust on Facebook or the website at middleburylandtrust.org to find plenty of great outdoor spaces to explore and information about upcoming events. Happy hiking!