Sunflower Invasion

A week after tropical storm Hilary dumped about three inches of rain in my area, things started sprouting in my back lawn.  Not in the produce containers, on the grass.

I found a shell fragment sticking to a leaf.  It kind of looked like a watermelon seed, but it was too big, and I didn't remember taking the packet anywhere near that part of the yard.  I pinched it, and realized it was a sunflower seed.  I don't buy shell-on, raw sunflower seeds.  I don't grow sunflowers.

%&$# squirrels.  They were probably stolen out of a bird feeder.

After the frustration passed, I decided to let them grow and see what happened.  It isn't like I have much of a lawn in the back yard until November, and getting a new roof next month will trash whatever is below the eaves anyway.  (ooh, I need to move the basil before they start.)  I told the gardener I'd let him know when he could mow them down.

They didn't grow as fast as I was expecting.  Maybe because I only water the back lawn once a week.  I gradually found more sprouts in other non-lawn areas and the Pond.  And a smashed peanut shell.  Someone had a party out there.

After almost a month, the grass is the same height as the sprouts.  It's supposed to be healthy for a yard to let grass grow once in a while, but I think I'm ready to mow them down and just see what the stray ones do.  If I'm lucky, that's all of the seeds that intend to sprout and I won't have to deal with this again.