The Sun and the Sunflower

Sunflowers are beautiful plants. They are very tall and strong. They have big yellow petals and dark centers. They look like bright suns in the garden. Many people love to look at them. But sunflowers have a very special secret. They move. They follow the sun across the sky. This is a very interesting story of nature.

In the morning, the sun comes up. It rises in the east. The young sunflowers face the east. They see the first light of the new day. They want to catch every warm ray of light.

During the day, the sun moves across the sky. It goes up high. Then, it goes down. It moves toward the west. The young sunflowers move with the sun. They turn their big heads slowly. They look at the sun all day long. They do not stop looking.

In the evening, the sun sets. It goes down in the west. The sky becomes dark. The stars come out. The sun is gone for the night. The sunflowers are now looking west.

What do the sunflowers do at night? They do not sleep like humans. But they do something very important. In the dark night, they turn back. They turn from the west to the east. They do this very slowly. When the morning comes, they are ready. They face the east again. They wait for the warm sun to rise.

Why do they do this? Young sunflowers need a lot of sunlight. Sunlight is energy. It is like food for plants. It helps them grow big, tall, and healthy.

The sunflower has a special clock inside its body. It is a natural clock. Humans have this clock too. It tells us when to sleep and when to wake up. For the sunflower, this clock controls how it grows.

The stem is the long green part of the flower. The stem grows differently on each side. During the day, the side of the stem with shadow grows faster. This fast growth pushes the flower head toward the sun. At night, the other side of the stem grows. This pushes the flower head back to the east.

This turning movement is only for young sunflowers. What about old sunflowers? Old sunflowers do not move. They stop turning. They are too big and heavy. They face east all the time. They do not look west anymore.

Why do old sunflowers face east? The morning sun is very warm. The warm sun heats the flower head. Bees like warm flowers. The bees fly to the warm sunflowers. They carry pollen. This helps the sunflowers make new seeds.

So, sunflowers and the sun are best friends. The young flowers follow the sun to grow. The old flowers face the sun to help the bees. Nature is very smart.

Do you see sunflowers in your country?