midwestern fertility

these sturdy dried stems of native roadside sunflowers stand 8 feet tall. i think they were even taller when i brought them home, but i had to trim their stems to fit them in my house. i use them as year-round decoration in my home. you may have seen them, standing proud in the corner of my bedroom, in some of the magazine features in the past year. they are from an abundant wild roadside sunflower called jerusalem artichoke or sunchoke. they are one of those amazing midwestern plants that starts from zero in late april and will be 8 feet tall by late june. like the cattails. and the burdock. and mullein. and…i think you get the point. it’s fertile here. very very fertile.

Helianthus tuberosus (Jerusalem Artichoke)