Now here’s a simple emblem of the sun
Iambic pentameter for the title; Helianthus annuus for the sunflower; Capital of Texas Highway for the place; June 24th for the date. Now, two months later, sunflower plants can still be seen blooming here and there around Austin.
Portraits of Wildflowers 
I always like to see the backside of a flower as well as the front. Sometimes that is a more interesting view but, of course, not of a sunflower. Still nice to see.
Steve Gingold
August 20, 2018 at 6:06 PM
I like sunflowers from the front, the back, the edge, in whole, in part, or in any other ingenious way I can think of to photograph them.
Steve Schwartzman
August 20, 2018 at 7:00 PM
Such a beautiful photo. Early in the summer, I lost my 8 foot tall sunflower to the wind. It was a heartbreaking moment.
livinglifeforte
August 20, 2018 at 6:39 PM
Let’s hope you’ll have another one next year.
Steve Schwartzman
August 20, 2018 at 9:14 PM
Gorgeous capture, Steve!
Jane Lurie
August 20, 2018 at 6:53 PM
It’s hard to go wrong with a backlit sunflower.
Steve Schwartzman
August 20, 2018 at 9:10 PM
and i love them so !
ksbeth
August 20, 2018 at 6:54 PM
Ah, don’t we all…
Steve Schwartzman
August 20, 2018 at 9:11 PM
Nice crispy detail Steve!
Maria
August 20, 2018 at 8:26 PM
This one is crispy rather than wispy.
Steve Schwartzman
August 20, 2018 at 9:11 PM
Do think I should have said ‘crisp’?
Maria
August 21, 2018 at 12:41 PM
Yes, I guess I was thinking of food! It’s ‘crisp’.
Maria
August 21, 2018 at 12:54 PM
Crispy has become common, though some people consider it an unnecessary variant of crisp, which usually means the same thing. In any case, I was glad that crispy gave me the chance to make a rhyme with wispy.
Steve Schwartzman
August 21, 2018 at 1:18 PM
fresh as a daisy, and crisp as a sunflower
Robert Parker
August 20, 2018 at 9:44 PM
Well, daisies and sunflowers are in the same botanical family. Did you know that daisy started out as the poetic metaphor ‘day’s eye’?
Steve Schwartzman
August 20, 2018 at 9:49 PM
No, I didn’t, that’s great, I’ll remember that
Robert Parker
August 20, 2018 at 9:50 PM
I’m always happy to tell people that. A similar metaphor is window. Look at the Word History paragraph at the bottom of
https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=window
Steve Schwartzman
August 20, 2018 at 9:55 PM
If I could cast my eye out the window and see this sunflower I would be most happy. I would also be happy if, from my window, I could see a whale road.
Gallivanta
August 21, 2018 at 7:23 AM
A sunflower I can give you, at least for half the year here. Looking out my window, I’ll never have a sea steed or whale road to photograph. A half-hour’s drive from your home, but not mine, will bring both of those into view.
Steve Schwartzman
August 21, 2018 at 8:26 AM
True. I can see them from my car window.
Gallivanta
August 21, 2018 at 8:46 AM
Now, that is a dazzler of a photo. Makes the hairs stand up on the back of one’s stem (if you’re a sunflower, that is)!
Susan Scheid
August 21, 2018 at 8:36 PM
I like your dazzling crossing of kingdoms between stem and neck. (And if I can get dazzled off onto a tangent, “neck” rhymed me into realizing we can’t say “I’m at your call and beck.”)
Steve Schwartzman
August 21, 2018 at 8:53 PM
And it is gorgeous.
Leya
August 22, 2018 at 3:50 PM
And it’s easy to agree with you.
Steve Schwartzman
August 22, 2018 at 4:03 PM
The balance between the sepals and the ray flowers is perfect. There’s enough detail visible in the sepals to allow their symmetry to shine; it’s so attractive.
It’s great to see such a pristine specimen, too. I’ve not been out and about much recently, but most of the sunflowers I’m seeing now are looking a little forlorn. The Maximilian and swamp sunflowers may be appearing, though, and I just haven’t seen them.
shoreacres
August 22, 2018 at 6:22 PM
Here in Austin it’s not unusual for a few Maximilian sunflowers to appear by the end of August, so it wouldn’t seem strange if the same holds near the coast. The swamp sunflower stops a couple of counties short of here; don’t know if I’ve ever seen one. Good luck finding and photographing both.
This sunflower was one in a stand by a stand, so to speak. Every summer a farm sets up a roadside stand on the Capital of Texas Highway, coincidentally next to a stand of sunflowers. I was on my way back from the cliff that provided pictures of ferns and seep formations when I made a last stop to see what I could do with sunflowers. Because I’d been away for a few weeks, I hadn’t yet photographed a single sunflower for 2018.
Steve Schwartzman
August 22, 2018 at 7:43 PM
Sunsational!
bayphotosbydonna
August 24, 2018 at 12:56 PM
Your comment is filled with Sol.
Steve Schwartzman
August 24, 2018 at 1:15 PM
🙂
bayphotosbydonna
August 24, 2018 at 1:35 PM
☀️
Steve Schwartzman
August 24, 2018 at 2:24 PM
One of my favourite flowers .. great shot Steve
Julie@frogpondfarm
August 25, 2018 at 1:18 AM
I think it’s one of everybody’s favorites. Austin is part of their home territory.
Steve Schwartzman
August 25, 2018 at 7:26 AM