The Kansas State Flower, the common sunflower, spectacularly adorns the country roads now - at least those that have escaped county mowing. What a sin it is to waste such a beautiful and generous gift of nature! They feed and protect the prairie soil, provide food and shelter and mating sites for innumerable insects and cover for birds, and fill my heart every season with their beauty, blessing my beloved Kansas landscape.
Helios, the Greek mythology personification of the Sun, born of Hyperion, the god of wisdom and light, and Theia, the goddess of sight and heavenly light. Helios drove the golden chariot across the sky into Oceanus, returning to the east each morning. Thousands of years after the mighty Grecian culture waned, Europeans found the common sunflower in the New World, giving it the Latin name helianthus annuus.
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| A cloudy day does not do justice to the banks of bona fide yellow |
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| Almost every blossom has mating beetles, in addition to bees, bumble bees, and other insects visiting |
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| Sunflowers come into bloom and stay that way for weeks. I waited almost too long to take pictures |
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| Still yellow at night! |
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| I think these are Maximilian Sunflowers, also in great abundance right now and also bona fide yellow |
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| And they remain bona fide, even at night! |
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| Beautiful from any angle |
1 comment:
Yes, even on a dreary day in the Flint Hills, sunflowers along the roadway can brighten the day.
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