Vincent van Gogh painted his still Life, "Vase with Twelve Sunflowers in Arles", in his "yellow house". Many consider Van Gogh's Arles period to be the most creative of his career. Indeed, many of Van Gogh's best known works were produced during his time in this provençal town. In a way, the paintings executed in Arles reflect a synthesis of the two previous artistic periods of Van Gogh's development. In Nuenen, Van Gogh would emerge as a skilled painter with a passion for painting outdoors. In Paris, Van Gogh would refine his evolving talents to incorporate a new world of colour and style introduced by the Impressionists. In Arles, these two would merge and some of Van Gogh's best-loved works (Still Life: Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers or Harvest at La Crau, for example) would result.

There so many sun flower fields, I thourght this is a something that should be included in my edition of photos from the South of France.

A little bit about the sunflower (Helianthus annuus). The stem of the flower can grow up to 3 metres tall, with the flower head reaching 30cm in diameter. And, the sun flower is so symetrical!

What is usually called the flower is actually a head of numerous flowers crowded together. The outer flowers are the ray florets and can be yellow, maroon, orange, or other colors. These flowers are sterile. The flowers that fill the circular head inside the ray flowers are called disc florets.

The arrangement of florets within this cluster is typically such that each is separated from the next by approximately the golden angle, producing a pattern of spirals where the number of left spirals and the number of right spirals are successive Fibonacci numbers. Typically, there are 34 spirals in one direction and 55 in the other; on a very large sunflower you may see 89 in one direction and 144 in the other. These disc florets mature into what are normally called "sunflower seeds", actually the fruit of the plant, with the true seeds encased in an inedible husk.

Most flowerheads on a field of blooming sunflowers are turned towards the east, where the sun rises each morning. Immature sunflowers in the bud stage exhibit heliotropism and on sunny days track the sun on its journey along the sky from east to west, while at night or at dawn they return to its eastward orientation.

Gold images of the flower, as well as seeds, were taken back to Europe early in the 16th century. Helianthus is the Greek word for "sunflower".

To grow well, sunflowers need full sun. They grow best in fertile, moist, well-drained soil with a lot of mulch. In commercial planting, seeds are planted 45 cm apart and 2.5 cm deep.

Sunflower "whole seed" is sold as snacks and is also sold as food for birds and can be used directly in cooking and salads.

Sunflower oil, extracted from the seeds, is used for cooking (but is less cardiohealthy than olive oil), as a carrier oil and to produce biodiesel, for which it is less expensive than the olive product.

Greek myth

In Greek mythology, a girl named Clytie fell in love with the sun god Apollo, and would do nothing but watch his chariot move across the sky. After nine days, she was transformed into a sunflower.