Well, I took your advice and cut off the dead bloom on my sunflower. We
have had a week of rain and 2 days ago I noticed the sunflower was starting
to wilt down, I thought it had drowned. Well, today was dry enough to get
out and do a bit of work. I found Ants all over my bed and sunflower
especially. In fact it seems they have a small bed at the base. So I guess
my dream of my own sunflower seeds for next year has gone by the wayside. I
also have a lot of aphids on my milkweed/butterfly weeds. My fingers are
yellow from crushing them, but I am anti chemical, even if it means I lose
them this year.
On the plus, saw my first ever milkweed seed being released today. Next pod
I will collect some for next year.