Growing sunflower can keep a child fascinated: ‘The mother all flowers’ | living

Give a child a pencil and paper and ask them to draw a flower. Ten to one that something will appear on paper that resembles a sunflower: a sturdy flower stem, with a leaf on either side, and a flower with a large round heart, surrounded by a wreath of petals. Sometimes it will yield something more anemone-like, but a plant with an intricate flower shape, such as an iris or a daffodil, a child will never draw spontaneously.