June 11, 2021: The first order of business was to create the 12 foot
pole. These three 5 foot sections obviously added up to 15 feet, but
since my planting hole was quite deep I was not worried about the
extra footage.  I used duct tape to secure the poles (with additional
overlap for strength).  This too brought the footage down to a
reasonable "sunflower" level.




What is this!?  Upon opening the chicken wire door to the old garden,
we first see a mass of weeds and vines representing about 4 to 5 years
of growth Again, I was not worried about this as it indicated the
soils had been replenished with nutrients for the would be
sunflower.




I dug down about 3 1/2 feet, cutting through a network of roots,
shaking out the soil as I went.  Some stray patio blocks were found
nearby which were intended to serve as stabilizers for the tall pole. 
The good top soil was set aside and then would be back-filled into the
hole first.




After preparing the hole and adding the blocks I installed the pole
making sure it was vertical on both the front and side of the pole. I
backfilled the good soil first, then the sandy less-loamy soil. A
small "dish" was formed around the stake to hold water when I needed
to water the seedling.





This is the prepared ground.  The next plan was to install a
cylindrical fine mesh wire "fence" next to the pole to protect the
seedling from animals.  Planting would be done just before this
step.



At first glance (downward) this appeared right, but the more I thought
about it, it made no sense since the plant would not be able to be
tied to the pole easily for the first 3 feet.  Wouldn't it make more
sense to plant the seedling next to the pole and then to surround both
the pole and seedling with the wire mesh cylinder?  Of course!




This adjustment had not yet been made.



I didn't have time to do the planting today.  As I left the garden I took this picture of the 
showing the pole within the old and overgrown garden in Harvard.



June 14, 2021:  Three days later, I came back to do the planting.



One last look before she goes into the prepared ground ...



And here we see my sunflower.  I gave it just enough water (not much)
to get it started in its new home.  This day marked its 13th day of
growth since planting.  87 days to go before "maturity."  We shall
see! Really hope we get some Fibbinaci spirals on the face of this
sunflower to be.  Maybe I could even count them to see if we get the
golden ratio for the left-turning and right-turning spiral counts!