[img_assist|fid=3729|thumb=1|alt=Sunflower Nine Panel|caption=Collage Credit: Sunflower Nine Panel by Chris Darling.]

A member of the Guerilla Gardening "troops" let me know that they've declared May 1st to be International Sunflower Guerrilla Day.

GuerillaGardening.org started out as a site where Richard Reynolds recorded his, "acts of illicit cultivation around London." Now it is an organizing space for people all over fighting the, "war against the neglect of public space."

Why sunflowers? According to GuerillaGardening:

• It makes public space attractive
• Birds and bees love sunflowers too.
• Celebrate nature's fertility.
• Assert guerrilla gardening as a positive, not destructive act.
• We need to grow them. Sunflowers are an eco-friendly source of fuel.

Here's How:

• You will need a packet of sunflower seeds and a bottle of water
• Set out into the public.
• Find a neglected or tedious patch of land and dig a little hole about an inch (2.5 cm) deep and drop one seed into it. If you're going for giant sunflowers space them about a foot (30cm) apart.
• Fill the hole and pour a drop of water on it.
• Return occasionally, especially if the weather is dry, to water your sunflower.
• Post a photo of your sunflower on the GuerrillaGardening.org Community Forum.

For more about guerilla gardening, check out:
The interview on Sew Green with David Tracey, author of Guerilla Gardening
Heavy Metal's Operation: Moss Graffiti (via Deb Roby)
Whimspirations' Guerilla Gardening: 12 Steps to Addiction
EcoSherpa's Guerilla Gardening! Grab Your Trowel and Get Dirty!
Wikipedia and Primals Seeds' guerilla gardening entries (via Mancubist's Guerilla Gardening in Urbis)
Treehuggers' Sean Canavan--Guerilla Gardener Extraordinaire.
Current TV's story about Richard Reynolds.
NPR's story, Gardeners Brighten London Under Cover of Dark.
The Vancouver Guerilla Gardeners Meetup group.

BlogHer Contributing Editor, Britt Bravo, also blogs at Have Fun * Do Good, NetSquared and World Changing San Francisco.

Collage Credit:

Sunflower Nine Panel by Chris Darling.

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