Since we built a new 25 x 20 garden for veggies, we decided to plant some old-fashioned flowers in one of our existing smaller raised beds. I bought sunflowers and zinnias from Seed Savers and a couple of months ago planted three rows of flowers (and one row of okra).
I carefully read which sunflower varieties were tallest and thought I was planting accordingly. Imagine my surprise when the “Sunflower Mix” dwarfed my Titan and Mammoth varieties.

These "mixed and mystery" sunflowers are dwarfing the Mammoth and Titan varieties which haven't bloomed yet.
I also have some zinnias that came up volunteer in the herb garden.

I was following a black swallow butterfly from flower to flower. You can see some white echinacea that also "volunteered."
In a previous post on my nostalgia for zinnias, I mentioned a forgotten photo of my great grandmother standing in a field of zinnias near Rocky Ford, Colorado, where she and her husband leased property to a seed company.
The last time I visited my dad, I asked about this photo. Aha, he came up with it!

Kodacolor, circa 1949. My great-grandmother in the center of her field. My great-aunt is on her right.
I remember looking at this picture in my grandmother’s photo album (where we ultimately found it) and marveling at the bright colors and size of those zinnias. Yes, I remember when this photo was not faded.
I am glad to have it and was glad I could scan it in for posterity.