Xanthe White talks plants
A friendly sunflower teaches Xanthe White the secret to a happy life
Sunflowers
Q When I think of Helianthus, I think of toasted, tamari-sprinkled seeds tossed through a salad. I think of Vincent van Gough’s paintings that seemed so full of light and warmth and so reassuringly domestic, and how challenging it was for me as a young women to align these images with that of a man who cut off his own ear. I think of rows of sunflowers growing over the windows of a nearby state house when I was a child, and believing that the grandmother who lived there must be some sort of a magician to be able to grow flowers so tall.
I think about feeding budgies and canaries and the little finches in my brother’s aviary. I think of arguments between him and I about whether you were one flower or hundreds of flowers. I remember hearing about a kindergarten that had to remove a piece of its roof because the sunflower inside had grown so tall it had run out of room. Yet I actually know very little about your official history.
A Not to worry. We’re a pretty easygrowing bunch, quite straight up when it comes to getting on with things. We rise with the sun and follow it till it sets. That’s the secret to a happy life: lift your face to the light and keep the darkness behind you. No one can resist a warm, bright face; the bees find us first in the morning because there we are, trapping the sunlight.
But since you asked, our relationship with you humans started sometime around 2600 BC, in Mexico, where we were treasured like gold. Further north, the Native Americans also recognised us as a source of food and oil, used our tall stems to build with, and made some beautiful purple dyes from our flowers, roots and seeds. Q Well, I can see why you were considered such a valuable commodity. A Indeed. Our seeds are rich in protein and good fats, minerals such as selenium and magnesium, and vitamin E too. So these days too it works quite well – instead of simply competing with all the other prairie plants you like, we help you by providing food and you reserve some seed to keep us going. We’re annuals, so we’re happy to be stored and cared for year in year out. We appreciate being made use of, you know? It’s nice to make others happy along the way.
Q You’ve certainly spread the joy around the world. A
Yes, from Mexico and America we had quite a journey off to Spain and around Europe – and we ended up becoming popular in Russia too, thanks in part to our oil being deemed acceptable by members of the Russian Orthodox Church for consumption during fasting for Lent. Fields and fields they planted – they couldn’t get enough.
Q So is that where we get the Russian giants from?
A Yes! The Americans got hold of some seeds and took us back with them; apparently they were very excited about that discovery. Like the Englishman who patented sunflower oil for industrial purposes in the early 1700s. What a hoot; the Native Americans had been using our oil since way back and then someone “discovers” it. You’re a strange bunch, you lot.
So there we are, back in America and the next thing you know, we’re all the rage again. Well, sort of, because now we’re not sure if we’re natives or foreigners, you know. Because some of us carry a history in Mexico and sometimes we worry we might soon be labelled weeds.
But you can’t let that get you down, can you? My advice: wake up in the morning and turn your face to feel the first of the sun, and follow it to the end of day. Keep a sunny disposition – there’s a lot to be said for standing tall and knowing which way you’re headed.