Posted on 08/10/2009 11:38:49 AM PDT by jurroppi1
Searched nurserys in MN.
Linders St. Paul 651-488-1927 open 7 days a week.
Knechts Northfield, MN 507-645-5015 7 daysa week 800-924-5015
They are pretty sturdy plants, so there may be hope. If it's too late this year - hang on to the seeds for next year.
Maybe WalMart garden shop may have one in bloom. Call your local agriculture extension center or a 4H club member to see if they might know where you could find one.
If the seeds take - she will have a whole bed of beautiful sunflowers.
Hope you discussed this with the little hoodlums' parents.
The mother must have took me very seriously because the boy was at the door late that evening with a greatly improved version of what he had destroyed that afternoon. We actually became friends with the family as a result of their willingness to go far beyond remedying the injury.
I don't think the boy did it out of the goodness of his heart, at least initially, as he tried to excuse himself during the initial confrontation by saying my daughter had provoked it. His mother would have none of that talk. If the parents are anywhere near as good as she was, you could be in for a pleasant surprise.
It is kind of you to want to shield your child from hurt.
But this may be a perfect opportunity to teach her how to deal with evil.
I don’t mean to be overly dramatic, but for her, this is an evil act.
Stand with her, explain what happened, explain what sin is and why we must avoid it. Tell her to remember how it makes other people feel when their possessions are destroyed.
The lesson may stay with her for life.
Ping.
I suggest that she liberally apply weedkiller to the neighbor kids. . . . (evil grin)
http://www.helpfulgardener.com/nursery/nurseries/minnesota.html
I tried to copy and paste but no go. Dozens in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Go to link page down. names and addresses but no phone numbers. Use the net to search for phone numbers. I count at least 2 dozen. in either Minneapolis or St, Paul.
I think your other move is to contact the parents of these idiot boys, and to suggest to them that a personal apology by each of them ... to you and to your girl ... is in order.
And as the person above noted, if you've got seeds you can harvest them for next year...
You might be able to find area farmers with sunflower fields. Call adjacent rural county UW Extension offices and inquire - they may help. I’ve seen sunflower fields on my treks around Western Wisconsin and Eastern Minnesota.
I happen to have a degree in Horticulture, and I have to say, I kind of think this won't work, but...
If you were to graft the stalk back to the base, which is actually pretty easy, just make a V shaped cut, facing down on the stalk and a matching one on the base (does that make sense?), then, wrap it with a strip of rubber, specifically, one of those thick rubber bands, cut into a strip.
It might work.
I've seen some really weird things with sunflowers in experiments. I once cut one at the base, flushed the soil with red dye, watched the dye ooze out of the cut, and put it back together again and the dye made it up to the flower petals.
Don't know if it'd keep the plant alive long term, but it couldn't hurt.
Oh, of course you'd need to stake it, like LQ mentioned.
Really hope it works or you find a solution.
You're a good parent to want to shield your daughter from something like this at her age.
Desperate? Brutal? She's in for a rough life...
Rather than trying to protect her from every little thing, perhaps you can prepare her for the realities of life. Far worse things will come her way.
Let me add that whatever remedy you choose should DEFINITELY include holding the child accountable by going to his parents. Otherwise, even if you fix that flower or plant another one, it’s just going to happen again and again.
People need to be held accountable. Just sayin’.
That's a great idea!
You can’t handle this situation yourself without asking for help? Are you a liberal?
Yes, like broken crayons and kid's tying her shoelaces together, while she's not looking, just to name a few.
That really blows. Try to make the best of it, teach yuor daughter the tough lessons. Also, teach her how to prepare teh heads for seed production for next year. I am assuming that they were far along enough to harvest the seeds for the next planting.
Then, buy her a slingshot and teach her how to hide behind the bushes and make that thing sting their little a$$es every time they walk by.
I really do feel for you and the little one.
That’s horrid, but an important life lesson that people are evil.
This is a lesson in life that your daughter will have to learn sooner or later. Don’t replace the flower, just tell her what happened. My parents never protected me from the bad things other kids in the neighborhood did. I know it may sound mean, but I think you are doing your daughter a bigger favor by just telling her what happened.
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