Close Up Sunflower
One might not be able to tell from this photo, but I was standing on a ladder to get the shot. The tallest of the Mammoth Sunflowers that I got from Renee’s Garden Seeds finally opened up at a height of ten feet six inches.
Looking Down on Sunflower
Here is the perspective from below.
Sunflower from Below
The plant reached well above the edge of the roof.
Leaf Damage from Caterpillars
Last week I had to take action to save these sunflowers. Hundreds of caterpillars devoured every bit of leaf in their path. For the first two days I thought to just leave the caterpillars be, but I soon realized that within another two or three days they would have completely wiped out all of the sunflowers.
I turned a spray bottle with orange oil and water into a caterpillar gun and knocked most of them off of the leaves. While I was out there I discovered that I had some helpers. More than once I saw spined soldier bugs dragging the caterpillars to their doom.
Spined Soldier Bug and Caterpillar
