Sunflower 1

Our resident mollusc population makes it quite tricky to grow sunflowers in our garden, as they seem particularly delectable. However, this year we have managed to get three or four plants through to flowering. I'm always stunned by their beauty and the complex arrangement of the florets.

This was a late capture as much of the day was taken up with preparing for and attending a Garden Party for all residents of or street, held in one of our neighbour's gardens.  We all made salads and a dessert to take along and share. Rather rashly, I decided to try making a lemon and pistachio meringue roulade, which was a bit fiddly but worked surprisingly well and tasted delicious. I'd been hoping that there might be leftovers but it all got polished off, so I suppose it must have been OK! It was a really lovely afternoon which will hopefully become an annual tradition.