Sunflower Greetings Cards

On July 14, 2014, Jacksonville, FL, it was a Second Finale of sorts. After Four Months, Hundreds of Plants, and Thousands of Flowers ... my second sunflower garden had come to an end. It was a particularly hot day in Jacksonville, Florida and I was out in my yard doing the mowing, edging, weeding and pruning throughout my front and back yards. It was in the back of my mind for the last few days that I was going to level my sunflower garden. This was not an easy decision. I still had a few hundred sunflowers blossoming up the stalk; however, the really large blossoms were through.

After four months of tending my garden daily, the time had come. Something else had been occupying my creative time throughout the day. You see, on June 20, 2014, I rescued a white mommy calico cat along with her six little kittens. I estimated the kittens were just at 3 weeks. Each day, these kittens and their mommy filled my daily life. It was my goal to give them all my attention to set them on the path towards being the best possible pets for their new owners.

For six weeks, I spent countless hours with the felines. I found that experience to be one that I will always treasure. However, my second sunflower garden time had been usurped! Therefore, I took it to the ground.

White Mommy Calico Cat checking out newly-cut Sunflower Heads
Photo Taken: June 20, 2014 by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

In this photo showing the beautiful white mommy calico cat, the significance of it? I took it on the very day that I rescued her six kittens from the neighbor's bushes. I had found them before 9am that day. And, I had not yet nabbed the mommy cat to bring her into the Florida Room with her six kittens. I let her have some alone time outside. It was a couple of hours later that she came to me looking for her kittens. One thing led to another and I soon had her inside where she stayed with me for the next six weeks.

The Birth of Sunflower Greetings

This year, I found that my flowers were so lovely that I created a new line of Sunflower Greetings Cards at Zazzle. These sunflower blossoms brought me a lot of daily joy ... and I hope that you too will find some joy from my line of Sunflower Greetings [cards] ... Bet you can't pick just one!!

Thanks for visiting!
Have you taken time to check out my line of sunflower greetings cards on Zazzle? Are you also a Zaller pro-seller? OMG, but isn't Zazzle a terrific site. You can find so many creative items there.

History: Excerpt from DIY Garden of Sunflowers that was originally created on Squidoo by JaguarJulie on May 2, 2014. On May 3, 2014 this lens earned the Purple Star Award for quality content. This lens was honored as lens of the day on May 14, 2014.

Kiss My Sunflower

Sunflower Love 2014. Can two sunflowers show love for each other? I seriously think so! Look. We were well into 2014 here in Jacksonville, Florida. My second DIY garden of sunflowers was flourishing with many plants ranging well above five feet. On May 28th, I actually measured one plant at 85 inches! That's over seven feet at 75 days.

I was so impressed with all the colorful and varied flowers in my garden. What's particularly amazing is that the entire garden is from my seeds harvested from the first garden in 2013.

Each day, I was out in my sunflower garden photographing the many incredible blossoms. It is truly like a spiritual experience for me. Once in a while, I come upon a flower that seems to speak to me more so than the others. Well, heck, if I am to be honest, they all seem to speak to me.

When I spotted two yellow flowers that were face-to-face, it became an interesting photograph. Over the course of a few days, I watched them and marveled at what seemed to be a conversation of sorts. I know people like me talk to our plants, but do they talk to each other. I seem to think so ... seriously!

The rest of the story ... these photos are gracing some greeting cards in my JaguarJulieFlowers Zazzle store!

Thanks for visiting!
So, what did you think of my two romantic sunflowers? I'm telling you, the romance went on for days ... back and forth; back and forth! It was the most incredible thing to watch. Like two flowery people engaging in a romantic endeavor. And, it played out right under my nose; I could see it each day from my home office window that overlooks my backyard.

History: Excerpt from DIY Garden of Sunflowers that was originally created on Squidoo by JaguarJulie on May 2, 2014. On May 3, 2014 this lens earned the Purple Star Award for quality content. This lens was honored as lens of the day on May 14, 2014.

Sunflower on the Evening News

On Wednesday evening, June 4th, my sunflower photo made the local evening news at 5:30pm. It was featured as the backdrop for the weather segment on WTLV Channel 12, the NBC affiliate.

That morning, I had sent in a couple of photos of the interesting sky the night before. The sky was pretty striated colors of pale pink and pale blue - like baby colors! After I sent those pictures, I sent a separate email with one sunflower photo.

My Eight Foot Sunflower Garden Impacted by the Wind
Photo Taken: May 30, 2014 at 5:50pm by JaguarJulie Ann Brady

What I said in my email: "I've been going through my evening photos and found that I captured one of my many sunflowers against that evening sky. Pretty colorful. By the way, I've included a recent photo of my sunflower garden -- what it looks like now that I added thirty 5 ft. stakes and twine to support it from the winds. With the winds, rain and hail of last week, a good portion of my sunflower garden "hit the ground" -- I had to cut out the damaged plants, put the blossoms in four vases, and stake the rest. That happened the day that the weather forecast said we had lesser winds. Not in Mandarin!" --Julie

That evening, I had been watching the first part of the 5:30pm news, but was in my office editing more sunflower photos from the day's shoot. That's when an email came in from Mike Prangley, the meteorologist at First Coast News.

"Thanks so much! You made my 5:30 pm newscast so much more fun!!! Keep sending in those pics!" -- Mike

I ran back in to the living room and rewound the program; that's when I snapped this picture!

History: Excerpt from DIY Garden of Sunflowers that was originally created on Squidoo by JaguarJulie on May 2, 2014. On May 3, 2014 this lens earned the Purple Star Award for quality content. This lens was honored as lens of the day on May 14, 2014.

Burpee Seed Starting Kit DIY

Starting With a Greenhouse Kit? For your first DIY garden, start here! Get detailed step-by-step instructions for starting your seeds with a Burpee Seed Starting Kit.

In my first DIY Garden of Sunflowers, I opted to try a seed starter kit. That was the greatest learning experience as you get a lot of satisfaction as you watch the little seedlings emerge.

Here are the actual sunflower seedlings that I grew.

I actually used three different packages of Burpee Sunflower Seeds for my first kit. You don't need to get that elaborate with your first project. Start with one type of seed.

The amount of time spent with this project is minimal, with so much reward at the back end! Are you ready to get started?

Time required: One Week to Ten Days
Difficulty: easy
Cost: Less than Twenty Dollars!!
Materials:

• Burpee Deluxe Eco-Friendly 25 Cell Seed Starting Greenhouse Kit
• Burpee 47902 Sunflower Autumn Beauty Mix Seed Packet
• Water

Tools: Index Finger

Step-by-Step Instructions:

• Start with your own Burpee Seed Starting Kit.
  
  This is the 25 cell greenhouse kit that I used. The instructions are self-explanatory. Even blondes can handle this!

• Once your growing mixture has filled the each cell of your seed starting kit, the tough part is to decide which seeds you will plant.
  
  In each of the cells I actually planted two seeds! Using my index finger as a tool, I push the little seeds into the center of the cells. I also opted to use two columns of like seeds from the first and second packets with the middle column from the third packet.

• After watering each of the cells, you cover with the plastic film supplied in your kit.
  
  I placed it on a waterproof place mat on my kitchen table.

• Each morning, you will want to lift the film to check on your progress.
  
  Here is the first view of the little seedlings emerging. Be sure to add a little water to keep each cell moist.

• Next morning, more of the little seedlings are emerging in the cells.
  
  I fill a glass with tepid water and use a tablespoon to spoon the water over each cell; recovering with the plastic film.

• Before you know it, the little seedlings are growing!
  
  Each day, a little more growth!

• Another day later and it looks as though each cell has something going on!
  
  You are still keeping each cell moist and covering with the plastic film.

• At this point of growth, you are no longer using the plastic film to cover the cells.
  
  I opted to replant these in a rectangular container inside for about one more week of growth before transplanting outside in the flower garden.

Move It, Move It, Move It!!

Just a little injection of fun because this should be fun after all. Move your little seedlings to a larger pot before taking them out into the cold cruel world to fend for themselves!! You dig?

I am fortunate to have a finished Florida Room that gets a lots of sunshine. I took the greenhouse kit and broke apart each of the twenty-five cells. I filled the rectangular pot about half way with Miracle-Gro Potting Mix. Then, I spaced out each of the cells with the tiny seedlings. I covered them with the potting mix, watered, and put on the floor in a sunny corner. Each day, I checked to see that the soil was moist. Soon, it would be time to take the plunge ... OUTSIDE!

Time to Dig; You Dig!

If this is your first DIY garden, you will need to dig out a space that works. Think lots of sunlight. Another good place would be along a fence so that the tall plants will have something to lean on! Lean on me when you're not strong!

History: Excerpt from DIY Garden of Sunflowers that was originally created on Squidoo by JaguarJulie on May 2, 2014. On May 3, 2014 this lens earned the Purple Star Award for quality content. This lens was honored as lens of the day on May 14, 2014.

Burpee Sunflower Seeds

Burpee Sunflower Seeds and My DIY Garden! Why Burpee Sunflower Seeds? These seeds have brought me a lot of JOY! I never knew that a couple packages of seeds could add such happiness to my daily life. It all started with the planting of my first garden in February 2013. Now that we are well in April 2014, I am watching the seedlings become plants. Let me tell you how it all started.

From my personal experience, I say Burpee Sunflower Seeds are the best! Let me ask you, Do you like sunflowers? Have you ever grown a sunflower garden from seed? For me, the answer to these two questions is a resounding YES. After my recent experience growing sunflowers from seed, I feel like an expert. Let me tell you about it.

All of my life, I have been admiring sunflower blossoms. I have marveled at the size of the plants and at the beauty of those blossoms. However, I never tried growing any sunflowers. And I never contemplated that you could grow these from seeds! The thing is, I had never grown anything from seed! Could I grow five to seven foot sunflowers from seed?

My recent inspiration for such a flower garden was a scene from the movie Everything is Illuminated. In that scene, the travelers arrive at their destination. As they walk to the tiny house, they pass through the most amazing field of sunflowers I have ever seen. I got to thinking. Why don’t I plant a sunflower garden.

It actually took me nearly one year to get started. I was looking at my Lowe’s and Home Depot for sunflower plants. I wasn’t finding any so I asked the cashier. She told me you don’t want to be planting sunflowers in August in Florida. OK, I didn’t know that.

I made the decision to try growing them from seed. At the end of February, I prepared a large rectangular plot in my back yard for a garden. It was March 2nd when I initially purchased 3 different packets of Burpee Sunflower Seeds: Del Sol Hybrid (Pollenless) Classic Cut Flower, Summer Evening Mix Warm Colors, and Summer Cutting Garden Mix for Vases and Blooms. I also opted to try a Burpee Seed Starting Kit to create my first DIY Garden of Sunflowers! 

In the starting kit, I planted some seeds from each of the three packets in the 25 cells. Soon, I was seeing little seedlings in each of the cells. I picked up a long rectangular flower pot from Lowe’s and transplanted the little seedlings until it was time to put them outside. I was hoping to avoid any freezing weather.

Well, the seedlings were transplanted one more time outside in one of the three rows I prepared in my garden plot. In the second row, I planted the seeds that were left in the three Burpee seed packets. For the third row, I went back to Lowe’s and picked up two packets of Burpee Autumn Beauty Organic Sunflower Seeds.

Then the magic began to happen! As the sunflower seedlings were getting bigger, I was taking lots of pictures to plot the growth. Soon, I began to blog about my garden. Before you knew it, I had blossoms! I was taking pictures in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. And, I was blogging more. One thing led to another and soon I had a Seven Foot Garden. Pretty soon, I was harvesting the seeds. I started The Sunflower Project to pass along my free seeds to encourage the next person to grow their own sunflowers and then harvest those seeds to pass along to the next person. Oh my!

And, finally! I opened my JaguarJulieFlowers Zazzle shop to showcase my floral photography — primarily sunflowers!

Am I glad that I planted Burpee Sunflower Seeds? You bet! Can I guarantee that you will have as much success as me? Well, you don’t know if you don’t try!

To make your journey a bit easier, may I suggest that you try a mix of seeds like this one. I’ve selected the All Summer Sunflower Cutting Garden Simple Solutions Seed Packet because it has Autumn Beauty, Vanilla Ice, Aztec Gold, and Jade. Those four varieties were all growing in my garden. Looking back at my experience with Burpee, I was overjoyed at my results. It seemed that every seed produced a seedling. And, I discovered that not all sunflower blossoms are yellow! One more thing, I fell in love with the Autumn Beauty!

The proof is in the blossom. Be sure to check out my photo mosaic below of some hand picked beauties from my first DIY garden of sunflowers.

With over 100 sunflower plants, I took a thousand photographs, and more, of the pretty blossoms. Now, many of those inspiring sunflower blossoms are appearing on a variety of products on Zazzle. Here’s a Pretty Colorful Autumn Beauty Sunflower Coaster! Who knows where a few seeds might lead YOU!

By the way, I was the Official Squidoo Backyard Gardener Contributor. But, I bet you didn't know that I also am one of the Blondes that DIY #blondesthatdiy <-- hashtag!

SUNFLOWER BLOSSOMS FROM MY GARDEN!

I love to hear from my readers!

Please take a moment to share your thoughts. I hope you enjoyed my review of Burpee Sunflower Seeds and enjoyed my sunflower garden. For me, I had tremendous success with Burpee! I’ve picked a few flowers to share from my garden. After all was said and done, I had over 100 plants with hundreds of blooms. I took well over one thousand photographs of those flowers. Be sure to check out my blog and follow my sunflower journey. Better yet, why not start your own sunflower journey?

History: This page was originally created on Squidoo by JaguarJulie on November 9, 2013.