Watching a giant sunflower over the three or four days that it takes for the petals to unfurl and pump themselves up to full size (much the way a butterfly pumps up its wings after emerging from its cocoon) can be amazing. It is much easier to see the double spiral of what will be the seeds for next year’s generation of plants, and how each seed produces its own miniature bloom (starting at the outer spiral and working in), how each seed-bloom produces its own purple-brown flower stem, and how the seed blooms produce pollen in such profusion that it falls as a bright yellow dust on the plant’s massive leaves.

 

Color pencil and ink on Fabriano color paper, 4.5”x6.25”. © 2009 by Earnest Ward.