Sunflowers on the Presidio

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

10.01.2019

Story by Marcus Fichtl  

U.S. Army Garrison Presidio of Monterey

PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. – Bright yellow
sunflowers are piercing the fog at the Presidio of
Monterey thanks to a pair of green thumbs at the
post’s legal office and a gardening tradition that
dates back nearly 100 years.
Mike Sutton, an attorney-advisor at the Presidio, has
been growing sunflowers with the enthusiasm, he
says, of a burgeoning hobbyist. The sunflowers dot
along the yellow-on-tan legal building, with their
necks twisting toward the sun, some multi-headed,
others the more traditional singular flower head.
Inside the snake-like interior of the legal offices,
another sunflower sits alone on the break room’s
windowsill.
Sutton said the sunflowers came about for two
reasons. First, they were easy to grow, requiring
nothing more than a little dirt, water and some
sun. Second they grow out of reach of the Presidio’s
notorious deer population.
“Sunflowers seem to work because the wildlife can’t
get to it,” Sutton laughed as he pointed to the seven-foot
flower he’s staked to the building.
This year Sutton wasn’t alone growing sunflowers,
as Aleshchai Herndon, a legal assistant, brought back
a pack of seeds from Monticello, the Virginia home
of Thomas Jefferson. A seasoned gardener, Herndon
was hoping her Jeffersonian-sunflower seeds would
be a simple addition to the office, but she forgot to
read the fine print.
“I thought they would be really cute window
sunflowers,” Herndon said. “But then they grew and
grew,” The sunflowers quickly outgrew the office
and Herndon relocated the plants outside.
That’s when she enlisted the help of Sutton, and now
like his plants, Herndon’s are also growing vinelike
along the building’s edges. The two even have
a friendly competition to see who can grow the best
sunflowers, but they said everyone seems to admire
all the flowers. Sutton said a language teacher at
the Defense Language Institute even donated a
sunflower seedling to legal team’s gardening corps.
Sutton added that growing plants just made sense in
the unique environment presented by the Presidio.
“How often do you get an opportunity to work in an
office that has a porch?” Sutton mused.
Like many of the buildings on the lower part of the
Presidio, the legal offices are in one of the many
100-year-old barracks structures. It’s easy to picture
a cavalryman in 1905, after a long day of riding,
taking in the sunset over Monterey Bay on the same
porch. It’s also easy to imagine them enjoying the
view with flowers – because there’s proof.
An old photo dated 1930 shows the 11th Cavalry
Regiment in formation on Soldier Field. In the
background stands the building with a trio of
colorfully planted window boxes.
Nearly a 100 years apart, the old cavalrymen
probably felt the same as Herndon does about the
colorful plants when the fog rolls in.
“It’s nice to see a bit of bright yellow when it’s grey
outside,“ Herndon said.

• Date Taken: 10.01.2019
• Date Posted: 12.26.2019 17:34
• Story ID: 357331
• Location: MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, US