Sunflower season is winding down in West County, but you can still see them in many yards and gardens, standing tall on their fibrous stalks and nodding their bright yellow heads in the September sun.
Historically, the sunflower was used by the Aztecs as a symbol of fertility, abundance, and an intermediary with the spirit world. The Chinese use the sunflower as a symbol for good luck and health. The sunflower is also the official flower of Ukraine and is being used as a symbol of resistance to Russia’s invasion of that country.
That’s a lot of symbolic weight for a big yellow flower, but if Jim Wilder has his way, the sunflower will carry yet another identity—as a symbol uniting all progressive causes under one bright yellow botanical umbrella.
Wilder, who has lived in Sonoma County for 20 years, is a former artisan and pond builder and current hobby farmer and activist. He is the founder of Sunflowers Across America, a project dedicated to creating a unified message of resistance to the erosion of democratic values, using the sunflower as a symbol of hope and joy. His short-term goal is to unite the various Sonoma County “resistance” groups under one recognizable symbol. After that — why not dream big — he hopes it might become a national symbol of progressive unity.
“Sunflowers Across America started as a promotion of the sunflower as a unifying symbol to unite everyone from Black Lives Matter, teachers, gay rights, and unions … under one symbol. If we can grow sunflowers and wear sunflowers, it would show solidarity among all the groups,” he said.
For Wilder, the sunflower embodies the spirit of joyful protest.
With our news and media being a constant barrage of negativity, Wilder said he hopes to “change from protesting what we don’t want, to protesting what we do. We want democracy, equality, and justice, and we want fairness, and to do all of that with love and joy. Otherwise, we are ceding to their game instead of our own. Being depressed isn’t going to help anybody,” he continued.
Wilder said he understands that it’s easy and understandable to become hopeless in the current political climate. He hopes that in using the symbol of a sunflower, progressives can remind themselves of earlier successes. He mentioned Gandhi’s successful stand against the British occupation in the 1930s and 1940s and America’s own civil rights movement of the 1960s.
He notes that once sunflowers are planted, they need little to no water and look towards the light, something he said is a perfect metaphor for our current moment.
Last year, Sunflowers Across America gave away roughly 15,000 sunflower starts at rallies or at his local farmstead off Fulton Avenue on the Santa Rosa side of the Laguna. This year, Wilder has had to step back due to health issues, but he hopes the project will gain momentum in the future. He said the project still has plenty of seeds to give away and is hoping to inspire other locals to get involved. There is also plenty of sunflower-themed swag available on their website.
“We have a little farmstead in front of my place, and we take donations. I don’t want to go through the bureaucracy of establishing a 501(c)(3). If someone wants to come on board or if somebody wants to take control and run with it, I’m fine with that.”
In addition to the Sunflower Across America project, Wilder is a master food preserver and teaches classes on pickling, canning, and dehydrating. He also donates his surplus sunflowers and produce to local senior centers.
“I never sell anything; I give it all away,” he said.
He sees himself as a sort of Johnny Appleseed.
“What I want to do a whole lot more of next year is what I call guerrilla gardening and just taking seeds around to landscaping that has a little bit of irrigation. Sunflowers don’t actually need much. The large ones may need staking, but the smaller ones, once you plant them and get them established, they really don’t need much. I have had some flowers at my place that I’ve never watered all summer. I want to take a trip to Washington, D.C., and spread them all over that town.”
Sunflowers Across America is not a membership-based organization but survives solely on individual donations. Baker Creek in Petaluma, along with other local seed stores, has donated sunflower seeds. Wilder has been reaching out to other local progressive groups in an attempt to get them to adopt the sunflower as a symbol. He invites people everywhere to plant, wear, and share sunflowers as a visible expression of hope, unity, and commitment to democratic ideals.
“It’s to get people to do their work. It’s so easy to fall into despair and depression; if we can do it with some liveliness in our hearts, it would be more productive and successful,” he said.
If you would like more information on this project or how to get involved, please visit sunflowers-across-america.org.
I didn't know who started this (until your article) but I've been planting sunflowers in support of the No Kings marches. Thanks for this write up.
I love this so much. What a wonderful way to change and frame a narrative!