Kansas Sunflowers

We grew sunflowers this year.  Seemed wrong to live in Kansas and not try.  I planted two varieties. One tall, one short. The tall ones are taller than I could imagine.

Katie is about 40 inches, to give you some perspective.

And of course, the whole gang had to pose for a photo.  It's 100 degrees out , hence, no pants.

Too cute for his own good.

And too pretty for words.

We had some damaged stalks a couple of weeks ago.  The flower buds had been chewed half-way off. I finished the job, and it looks like life found a way to make a new flower (did it involve spontaneous sex changes like Jurassic Park??).

Critters love the sunflowers.  Ants, shiny blue bugs, flying thingies, bees, and this guy.

This poor corn is feeling outshone by the sunflowers, so it tried to produce another cob.  That's pretty darn teenitsy (speaking of teenitsy, look at these itty bitty grasshoppers. They are freakishly small!).

A bright spot in the garden as everything else dies.  I plan on growing at least double this amount next year.  Very satisfying!

Edited to add: Ryan and I did no bed prep for the sunflowers.  We planted the seeds in existing soil. I fertilized once with fish emulsion once the plants had come up, although I don't think it was necessary (I had extra from feeding the corn).  My only issues have been critters eating the seeds (hence the weird rows) and a few invasive vines left over from the previous owners.  Plant where you get tons of sun. This spot gets 12+ hours in summer!