Dominic was sent home from school two weeks ago with a tiny sunflower plant, about an inch high with two small leaves (there is a technical name for them - please supply if you know it) in a little brown pot with his name on it. No instructions, no guidelines, no helpful hints - just a four year old boy, confident that this budding plant will (and I emphasis that word) will grow to be a sunflower "as big as a house."Clearly, it behoves me to keep this thing alive and get it to grow as big as poss. - while pointing out at regular intervals that really it isn't going to grow as big as a house, however well we tend to it.
So far, it has outgrown its own strength - hence the stake - and has had to be re-potted. I find myself fussing over it, worrying about it having too much or too little water, turning it 90% at a time in the hope that it will grow straight and tall and true.
Let's hope it's not a metaphor for parenthood.
Watch this space to see how tall it gets (assuming survival). Perhaps I should open a book on it.
5 comments:
Well, from my Sunflower growing experience looks like your leggy sunflower is ready to be in the ground. I'm no Charlie Dimmock (steady now) but thats my advice. Will look forward to some nice sunflower seed bread once you have harvested the seeds. Please don't grow mushrooms!
Cotyledons.
Interesting, I thought it was Dominic who should be tending it. ie learning a sense of responsibility? Did you take over?
Even less attention for me!!
But are they mono - or di - cotyledons? I only ask to show that I'm catching up with the backblog.
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