Delineate these sections with edging or garden lumber (we had to seek out the 4 inch by 4 inch by 4 foot ones that we used for our square-foot vegetable garden).

That way, those neighbors who would have objected to the Queen Anne's Lace won't be complaining that you "missed a spot." And edging bricks work wonders in communicating "Save This!" when someone else intervenes with mowing. (I now have a lilac, where once I had a crippled stump at the end of a row of varied bushes.)

Good suggestion. Hadn't thought of "garden lumber". I was hoping to be able to find-or-buy rocks, but haven't found the right place yet. Figuring that they'll be pretty easily moved if I want to increase the size of the garden.

Your "suspicious" flowers (of what you suspect them, I do not know) are sunflowers of the oilseed variety. The same type farmed for sunflower oil for human consumption are sold as "black oil sunflower seed" for bird food mixes.

I completely understand your mowing plight. By this time of year I am tired of mowing. And it gets dark to soon after I get out of work. A wildflower garden would be wonderful for the wild life and for bouquets. But, flower gardens need attention just as grass does. That goes for wild flowers too.

Best of luck!

The clincher for me was finding them directly under the birdseed, so sunflowers is what I had suspected. Although I don't know "oilseed" from other kinds.

I was rather hoping they'd get taller than knee high.

But, flower gardens need attention just as grass does. That goes for wild flowers too.
Everything takes time. I was hoping that the flowers would require less time-and-attention, or that it would be more enjoyable to provide that attention.

Those critters are sneaky. We had a garden when we were young and even with dogs, we would have a race between the wild things and us to see who got the food first. We rarely saw them but from the tracks (and the occasional wildly scented dog), knew we had raccoons, skunks, deer, and rabbits, as well as the occasional groundhog.

I'm sure I have coons. I've seen a possum. And there are zillions of squirrels, a few chipmunks, a few rabbits, a neighbor cat... But the one I can most easily suspect to bite the heads off of a flower are the squirrels.

I suspect the squirrels myself.

Did you know that you can dye Queen Anne's Lace with food coloring? Just pluck the flower and place in a vase or cup with a few drops of food coloring in it. You can pick the color.

I did not -- that's quite cool!

It's one of the few things I remember from Girl Scouts.