Sunday Sunlight...

In the form of a sunflower (Helianthus annuus).  Like a lot of other flowers, those showy petals around the center aren't really the flower; the real flowers are the tiny florets found in the center of the ray petals.  They're native to North America and weren't brought to Europe until the 16th century.  It's a myth that they follow the sun; only the immature buds do that.  I always loved it when I would look at a field of sunflowers which were facing all different directions.  Rebel sunflowers!  Non-conformist, free-thinking sunflowers! I finally looked it up and was a little disappointed when I found out that they weren't really rebels...

They do have a bit of a dark side, too.  Sunflowers release a toxin that suppresses the growth of plants near them.  Killer sunflowers, who knew?  Fortunately for that ladybug though, sunflowers love ladybugs...and bees, butterflies, birds, animals...everyone, I guess, except other plants who would steal their nutrients and ladies wearing large hats who approach them with scissors.  I distinctly heard one say to a friend, who was intending to cut some of its flowers, "Get away from me, horrible woman!"  No really, I did.  I think she heard it too, because she abruptly turned to me and said crossly, "Well, if you didn't want me to pick any sunflowers, you should have said so before!"  She still doesn't believe that it was the sunflower who said that, but thinks it was me, can you imagine?  My voice doesn't sound anything like the voices of sunflowers!