THE SUNFLOWER KINGDOM

We provide sunflower seeds for the local bird population, and keep a well stocked feeder year round. It's fun to watch the various species as they flit to and fro, snatching a single seed. In this frenzy, many of the seeds end up right below the feeder on the ground, where they get eaten by more birds, and the morning squirrels that come to feed on tree nuts in the early hours after the feral cats are done prowling the neighborhood.

Many of the seeds escape hungry mouths. Each spring, a little garden of tiny sunflower plants emerge to ward off attacks by the nocturnal creatures, such as raccoons, who love crisp, green seedlings sprouting fresh and dewy from the damp, dark soil!

Every two or three years, a good portion of the seedlings make it through the whole ordeal. They grow to adulthood, ruling the front of the house, their golden corona's worn proudly--like the bloomin' royalty, except for the fact that they have earned the privilege.