Jeremy Dieterich A Chronicle of My Life

After watering our seeded grass for several days, I noticed a little plant had sprung up.  I figured any growth was better than nothing, and that I could always pull up weeds later.  Mom came by some time and told me that it was a sunflower, so I figured I'd let it go and see if it bloomed.  Apparently, they like to be in full sun before they bloom, which meant this guy had some growing to do before he could get out from under the shade of the house:

I was really expecting the bloom to be a foot or two in diameter, but instead it seems content to put out several normal-sized blooms.  I took these shots a few days ago; now there are several blooms open, which is weighing down the top to where it's almost leaning on the swing set.  I'll probably need a machete to go after it when it finally keels over.  Once it looks fully bloomed, I'll get the ladder out to get some pictures of it, although shooting from the ground does get a nice sky backdrop: