Be A Sunflower

A blossom hard to ignore, and certainly impossible not to lift a frown.

Adoration

Loyalty

Vitality

Strength

Let me tell you about my flower of choice.

The sunflower is named so, historically for two reasons.

When darkness falls she bows her head to rest for the night and when risen her blooming face follows the sun; a behaviour known as ‘heliotropism’.

In French, named ‘Tournesol’. Directly translated to ‘Turned to Sun’

Apollo and Clytie

Another explanation of why the sunflower faces the sun is the ancient Greek myth of Apollo and Clytie.

Clytie (a nymph) and adored Apollo, more than imaginable and at first he loved her back. However Apollo then had his heart fall in love with someone else, Leucothoe. Clytie became victim to jealousy and she told Leucothoe’s father about the relationship that his daughter had with Apollo. He punished his daughter by burying her alive.

Apollo, in his fury towards Clytie, turned her into a flower but this could not fade her undying love for him. She, in form of a flower, would spend her days watching Apollo as he moved across the sky in his chariot.

Commonly the sunflower has a couple of meanings, most ‘stemming’ from its vibrant colour and presence and its faithfulness to embrace every-day and face the light of the new day.

Adoration Loyalty Vitality Strength

Fun Facts about the Sunflower

The sunflower is the ONLY flower with the word ‘flower’ in its name

Come in all shapes and sizes and colours

Some up to 3m tall, but some 'dwarf sunflowers' are known to grow in clusters and barely reach 2ft

A mature Sunflower faces east. This way she will warm up faster than facing east (how clever is that)

Sunflower Oil is a natural anti-inflammatory

The head of a sunflower is in fact a collection of thousands of little flowers (ray florets). This is very attractive to bees and gets our sunflower lots of attention

There are more than 60 varieties of sunflowers globally

So why is this flower such a strong symbol in my eyes?

Well not only are these gorgeously vibrant flowers a beauty to behold, but there is so much more to it. Much like us. Look, we are all beautiful and incredible to look at, but we also have so much more that is exciting within. No one can see quite how strong we are, that’s behind our beauty.

We are all ‘sunflowers’ by use of a metaphor.