In the 1970s the opinion was that you should talk to your plants. It was supposed to make them grow better. However, I don’t remember ever reading that you were supposed to name them…

Meet Sunny, the latest addition to my whimsical garden! Only $4.99 at Orchard’s, which I thought was a good price. Not that I would know, since I don’t remember ever buying a sunflower before. I went there to get some more stepping stones to paint, and just happened to notice the sunflowers in the plant section. So I guess you could say it was an impulse purchase. (Most of my plant purchases are…)

I had to make sure Sunny didn’t tip over so he had to ride in the front seat! The girl at the Starbuck’s drive through said I looked like a ray of sunshine with my bright sunflower in the car with me!

I decided to plant Sunny over by the side fence near the nopales (no, they don’t have names…yet). The problem with that side of the yard is that the ground is so hard you literally have to water the dirt with the sprinkler for like half an hour just to be able to dig deep enough to plant anything! (Oops, if you happen to work for the city water department, you did not just read that!)

A lot of times you can plant something in your backyard and the next day you go out and it’s all wilted, having gone into shock. Usually they come out of it, but it’s always alarming to see. So when I got up the next morning it was like when King Nebuchadnezzar called out to Daniel in a lamentable voice to find out if he had survived the night in the lion’s den. “Oh Sunny, did you survive your first night in my whimsical garden with the chrysanthemum and the nopales?” Now Sunny (fortunately) did not answer back, but he looked fine so I think he’ll make it.

We’ll have to see if Sunny gets as tall as these sunflowers my dad had in his yard years ago. I’ve already thought of going back and getting another one, but what would its name be…maybe Cher?