{"id":146086,"date":"2017-03-09T06:02:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-09T04:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/146086\/elsburg-resident-proud-of-unique-flowers\/"},"modified":"2017-03-09T13:34:50","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T11:34:50","slug":"elsburg-resident-proud-of-unique-flowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/news-headlines\/2017\/03\/09\/elsburg-resident-proud-of-unique-flowers\/","title":{"rendered":"Elsburg resident proud of unique flowers"},"content":{"rendered":"

When DJ van Dyk (73), from Elsburg, got some new and different seeds from his sister-in-law he had no idea what would grow.<\/p>\n

He was thrilled to discover, three months after planting the seeds, that they were beautiful Teddy Bear sunflowers.<\/p>

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\u201cI have never seen or planted flowers like this before so it was a wonderful surprise,\u201d said van Dyk proudly.<\/p>\n

The Teddy Bear sunflower is a popular, but unique, variety of sunflower.<\/p>

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The soft and fluffy cushion-like sunflowers sprout from short bushy plants much like a normal sunflower.<\/p>\n

The plant, whose beautiful flowers make great additions to bouquets, completes its life-cycle over the course of a single year, flowering in midsummer.<\/p>\n

As Teddy Bear sunflowers are low-maintenance plants, they make excellent plants for beginner gardeners.<\/p>\n

Van Dyk plans to maintain and nurture his plants so that he can enjoy their beautiful flowers again next year.<\/p>\n