A surprise in the Garden

Earlier this summer as I was checking my patio tomatoes, I noticed a "weed" that had come up in one of the pots and was about to pull it out.  A friend told me she thought it was a sunflower.  Now how could she tell that with it being only 4-5 inches tall. Having never grown sunflowers before, I had no idea.

I didn't really believe her, since how it got in that tomato pot was such a mystery. I had used pre-mixed potting soil to give the plants the best chance to produce big, tasty delicious tomatoes, and I know I didn't plant anything else in that pot.  Well, I carefully dug it out and planted it in my flower/veggie garden in the yard....just to see what it really was.

This is what finally became of the "weed".   Unfortunately, it faces away from us as we look from our house.

Please excuse the weeds. This little garden has a few flowers, 4 tomato plants and 2 green pepper plants. Oh yes, and now one beautiful sunflower.  Also, lots and lots of weeds.  They are my speciality!

Notice the tiny honey bee at the top inner ring and the large black bumblebee below it?  The whole plant faces to the East, I guess to greet the morning sun.

Switching gears a bit - 

At our quilt guild last month, we had our annual Summer Salad Supper program along with a white elephant gift exchange..  We were to wrap our "white elephant" so it would be enticing and completely covered. We could bring anything, even items unrelated to quilting.

The organizers had a game plan to make getting our gifts very random. As we waited for our numbers to be called, we could hear laughing and oohs and aahs coming from various sides of the room. A friend of mine at the next table got something that caused her whole table to break out in loud laughter. I looked over to see what all the fuss was about.  She got a great white elephant. She thought it was awful and did not want it. When she said who wanted to buy it, I jumped at the chance.  I thought it was the cutest 'white elephant' in the whole room.  You wouldn't believe some of the terrible 'white elephants people came up with.

Meet my new kitty.  She is house trained, doesn't need a litter box and she doesn't wake me up too early in the morning, but I think she is the cutest kitty around town.  Don't you agree?  The flowers she is carrying are Suoerbena, a Verbena hybrid. Royale Chambray is the color. (Of course you know it HAD TO BE PURPLE).

Has anyone ever tried to winter annuals over in the house?  This would make a pretty addition to our sun room in the winter.  I know kitty would prefer to be indoors when it's cold. lol