Maximilian Sunflower + Honey Bee

No Who doesn’t smile at a sunflower? One invited himself into my front garden bed this summer, and I invited him to stay a while. In floral language, sunflower says “my eyes only see you.” Maximilian sunflower was named for Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, a German explorer, ethnologist, and botanist on his travels in the 1800’s. Growth is about 3 feet in height with tall, slender stems and lance-shaped leaves folded down at the mid vein. Flower heads are filled with yellow ray florets, a central brown disc and pointed green phyllaries at the base of the flower head.

The thick rhizomatous root is edible and was used by Indigenous people for food. The flower buds can be cooked and eaten like artichokes, while seed kernels provide phosphorous, potassium and protein. Native Americans used the seeds and butter made from them as an “energy cake.” The sunflower has also been used as a diuretic and expectorant, and was known for antimalarial properties.

A Greek legend tells another story of a maiden, Clytie, who fell in love with the sun god Apollo. “Every time he passed overhead in his fiery sun chariot, she stood in her garden and gazed at him longingly, even though she had chores to attend to. Apollo, who made a point of shining brightly so people on Earth couldn’t actually see him, eventually got fed up with the girl’s foolishness. He flung one of his sun arrows at her, and she turned into a sunflower on the spot. To this day, she faces east in the morning and west in the evenings, following the path of Apollo. In some versions of the story, it was not Apollo but other gods who took pity on her and turned her into a sunflower. In light of this legend, the sunflower’s virtues of faith, loyalty, and adoration make perfect sense.”

Maximilian Sunflower is accompanied by honey bee, a VIP of the pollinator sector. From National Geographic: “Honeybees are important pollinators for flowers, fruits, and vegetables. They live on stored honey and pollen all winter and cluster into a ball to conserve warmth. All honeybees are social and cooperative insects. Members of the hive are divided into three types. Workers forage for food (pollen and nectar from flowers), build and protect the hive, clean, and circulate air by beating their wings. The queen’s job is simple—she lays the eggs that will spawn the hive’s next generation of bees. There is usually only a single queen in a hive. If the queen dies, workers will create a new queen by feeding one of the worker females a special food called “royal jelly.” This elixir enables the worker to develop into a fertile queen.”

Original mixed media on raw stretched canvas with maple float frame.

This piece is available at Alina Collective downtown Fargo. Please contact or visit to purchase.

716 Main Ave

Fargo, ND 58103

701-532-1173