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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/400 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — full exif
Anthony's Little Sunflower
( almost a full two inches across )
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — full exif
Anthony's Littler Sunflower
To say that neither Fumie nor I have a green thumb would be a mild understatement, to say the least. (Fumie and Anthony were able to grow some tomatoes last year, though they didn't taste good.)
Fumie's mom is much better at tending greenery, which is wonderful because as part of the monthly Shimajiro series of activities she's subscribed to on Anthony's behalf for years (previously mentioned here, here, and here), came a little setup for growing a sunflower.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/100 sec, f/7.1, ISO 5000 — full exif
Sunflower Growing Station
It has the little pot, a watering pitcher, and a stages-of-growth chart with a little marker that the kid moves as the plant progresses from stage to stage. When the first yellow pedals started to appear, she sent the pot over to us so that Anthony could see it more often. (Since he's in school, he usually can visit his grandparents only on the weekends.)
I know from growing up in Ohio that these can grow five or six feet tall, which that little pot won't support, so I'm not sure what we'll do when it reaches that stage. (It seems they've left “pot tips over” off the stages-of-growth cart.)
We'll see.
This is a cutest growing station! So educational and fun for kids. Everything that they do in Japan (or what I know of) seems perfect in every way. There is no worry to find watering pitcher or growth chart..it’s all in one place.
“I know from growing up in Ohio that these can grow five or six feet tall”
Yes, many – probably most – types of sunflowers are really tall. But there are a lot of shorter types too. I think once it flowers, it’s done with vertical growth, so you don’t have to worry about the pot tipping.
I have a half dozen or so of the short sunflowers growing around my birdfeeder. They look almost exactly like Anthony’s. And a few doors down is a neighbor who often grows the goliath version that hits 12 – 14 feet tall. They tower over the fence with blooms 2 feet across. THOSE would probably tip your pots 🙂