George's Sunflowers...Garden DIY!

Sunflowers...My Late Summer Love!

Sunflowers have always symbolized to me the golden days of late summer.  Of all the months of summer I love August the most...especially toward the end of the month as it segues into September.  The days are still hot, but the light is shifting.  Purple Sage plants are busy with bees and Back-to-School banners drape bustling store fronts.  I cannot wait for fall!

Don't you just love the bright faces of sunflowers?  They are all sunny and hopeful like the faces of dogs going on a car ride.  There is no disguising the pure joy.  And I love the way their faces follow the sun as it moves across the sky.  They know where the light comes from.  Maybe we should turn our faces to the skies more often to follow the Light.

George's Rock Garden and Sunflowers...

Deck from Rock Garden

Fire pit is handy for burning a few weeds...lol!

For many years the northwest corner of our backyard sat empty and full of weeds.  We just couldn't figure out what to do with it.  It wasn't until a few years ago after we added a kitchen addition onto the back of the house and built a covered deck that George finally figured out what it needed...a pergola!  It took a couple of years, but once the pergola was finished, he designed a rock garden around it with paving stones, tall grasses and a fire pit for the grandkids.  It's not a huge area, but it is pleasant to sit on the deck and enjoy in the evening.

Rock garden pergola with George's first sunflower in background.

The wagon holds wood for the fire pit.

We've been collecting various rustic odds and ends on our travels in Nevada and Arizona.  George has crafted seating for the fire pit out of old milk cans and tractor seats.  Our favorite antique store in Oatman, Arizona has supplied us with most of our treasures, like rusty wheels and an old water pump.  On one visit George found some old cultivator blades that looked like the sun's rays.  That was all it took.  This would be the summer of the sunflower. He has made three in all.  Now he says he is ready to move on to making a fountain out of his water pump.  This should be interesting...stay tuned.

Sunflower One...

We found an old wrought iron candle stand at Treasure's Antiques.

George thought the curly-cue flourishes suggested leaves.

The jagged top of the candle holder became the center of the flower.

All of his flowers are made to rotate...if they so desire.

Sunflower Two...

Different style of culivator blade.

I found the fancy black piece at George's grandma's old house.

Two-toned petals remind me of those brown sunflowers from the seed packet up at the top of the page.

Side by side.  

The taller is about 6 ft. in height, while the other is about 4 ft. tall.

Sunflower Three...

The ones I love the best...wild sunflowers on the side of the road.

We have always loved the wild sunflowers that grow along the side of the road...mostly country roads.  We used to have more of them nearby, but more and more building and development has caused them to disappear from the neighborhood...along with pheasants and meadowlarks, my favorite song bird.  A couple of weeks ago, on a drive, George mentioned he'd like to make one more sunflower...a wild sunflower with multiple stems and heads.  For the blossoms, he took apart two long-handled cultivators from Home Depot.  We got the leaves from Metal Mart in Lehi.  This was not a junk project.  He had to buy all new materials this time.  But it turned out great!

I feel he really captured the spirit of the wild sunflowers.

Of course they can spin...if they wanted to.

Thanks for letting me share George's artwork with you!

I'm not proud of him at all...lol!