Don’t Give Up On That Injured Plant

Autumn Beauty Sunflower

Some of you may remember that last year we experimented with a raised sunflower bed. The results of trying to grow sunflowers in a 6-8 inch deep bed were very successful. We didn’t replant anything  after the sunflowers faded. This spring, thinking of what to plant ,  I discovered two plants that must have reseeded themselves.
Both shot up quickly to about five feet before a strong wind broke one of the plants about midway up the stalk.

Two Sunflower Plants
Self-seeded Sunflower Plants

Not much I could do except accept what had happened and be thankful that it grew as well as it did. So I walked away and let it hang, waiting for the wilting to begin.

Broken Sunflower
From 6 feet to 3 feet in one quick snap!

 

A couple of weeks later I went back to check on the remaining plant and to my surprise, buds were covering the broken plant. (The second plant was still growing tall, but producing no buds.)

Sunflower Buds
Budding on the broken stalk

It’s now been three weeks since this discovery and the results of a plant’s ability to survive a major injury has been amazing.

You never know what good surprises mother nature has planned for that occasion.

Be thankful for the little wonders.

Happy Gardening!

Dave
Two Florida gardeners living in a sub-tropical paradise. Find us on Google+!

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