Chips on a Sandwich | no. 16 | SUNFLOWER POWER
helios (sun) & anthos (flower)
THE PLANT: Thank you to the Wisconsin farmer who planted millions of sunflowers this year to spread some much-needed extra joy. Sunflowers are heliotropic, which means the plant turns to follow the sun-- east to west-- and then returns to east at night to await the sun's morning rise. Think about millions of sunflowers doing that in unison! We often picture a field of sunflowers as those iconic towering varieties like Skyscraper or American Giant. But the family of sunflower is super diverse and can range from yellow to magenta to brown and are tall and short. Some have the sweetest names like: Strawberry Blonde, Teddy Bear, Little Becka and Sunny Smile. And then there are the super-heros: Firecracker, Sundance Kid, Ms. Mars and Earth Walker (I love that last one).
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/social_image_placeholder-1be03e498cce4b6c843ac910b2c7c9aa.png)
Page Not Found
THE SEED: Sunflowers will droop when conditions are off or when they become heavy with seeds. They can look so sad (think of a defeated Charlie Brown). But dried sunflowers can be pretty and then there's the potential for harvesting seeds. Of course sunflower seeds make a great snack, there's sun butter and sunflower oil but this Vegan Sunflower Seed Tuna Salad showcases its awesome diversity.
A sunflower, heavy with seeds, begins to droop in the afternoon sun. Photo by Bryce Richter || University Communications See more photos at https://go.wisc.edu/threesisters
THE PERFUME: If you're of a certain age then perhaps once upon the 90s you went to a department store with friends and purchased a bottle of Elizabeth Arden's Sunflowers perfume. I can close my eyes and still smell it-- bright, floral and citrusy. I could never get away with wearing it now. But it gives me fond memories of 8th grade and my friends Tricia and Erin.
THE SONG: My young son requested the song Sunflower a couple weeks ago. Thank goodness for Siri because I was at a loss. It's by Post Malone and Swae Lee and featured in the 2018 movie Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse (we'll watch it when he's older). We've been driving around listening to it on repeat. It's kind of become our anthem for late summer/early fall-- while the sunflowers are still here.
THE BOOK: The Bad Seed (written by Jory John with Pete Oswald as illustrator) is a delightful children's story about a cranky sunflower seed who is separated from his family. He decides to live up to his bad reputation and spreads misery wherever he goes. But then something clicks, and he realizes he has the potential for happiness and kindness while still reserving the right to get angry sometimes. It's a good lesson in balancing emotions for kids (and adults).
POLL: Flowers or Ferns? (Amelia Bedelia and Ramona Quimby tied from last week's poll.)