Oh my, it's been a busy summer. I'm finally getting back to my blog, and I'm going to start with an easy post--my favorite flower, sunflowers! They are blooming all over the Great Basin right now. I wouldn't normally take a lot of photos of them, but we've had some fantastic skies, like the one above, and the sunflowers make such a nice foreground contrast.
I appreciate clear skies with sunflowers, too, especially at night, when the bright Milky Way fills the sky. We're lucky to live in a Bortle Class 1 (the darkest skies), so the Milky Way is super visible here.
Sometimes I just pause to enjoy the symmetry--or almost symmetry--that can be found in a sunflower closeup.
Although sunflowers are often found in bunches, sometimes just a single one makes a stand.
One thing I learned this summer is that bees overnight sometimes in sunflowers. All the ones I've seen have been nestled into the bottom of the flower.
More cool skies. The scientific name for the sunflower genus is
Helianthus, which literally means sun flower. There are about 70 species, and they are native to North and Central America. The native one here is
Helianthus annuus. 
Immature sunflower buds exhibit heliotropism, where they follow the sun. But mature sunflowers mostly face east (something to keep in mind when planning sunflower photo shoots).
Ready for more bees?
This was a different morning with gorgeous skies.
I couldn't resist trying to get a photo of the rainbow with a sunflower in it!
Finally, another nod to sunflowers under the Milky Way. Life is good.
If you have a favorite sunflower shot, I'd love to know! Thanks for taking a look at this post.
