Greenish thumb

As first-time gardeners and homeowners, we've been trying to dress up our boring yard. In the past two months, I've learned a lot about landscaping and gardening. Honestly, I had no idea how to get a plant from the plastic store container into my yard without killing it and then keeping it alive.
Well, I got the first part down, but keeping the plants alive is a lesson in progress. The Gerbera daisies apparently need a lot more light than our backyard flower bed gives them and the impatiens need a lot less direct light. Mental note for next year: Switch those flowers around.
However, we have three mammoth sunflower plants that we started in pots from seed and, miraculously, they are thriving in the ground! They've been outside through a blizzard in May, flooding in June and extreme heat in July. Such a hardy plant! Guess that's why there are so many in this state.
One plant is about 3 feet tall and the other is as tall as me! The tall one is on the verge of blooming, so I'm waiting impatiently. But it's fun to watch the entire plant tilt east in the morning and tilt to the west by evening each day.
I figure my thumbs will get greener each year. But you can bet we'll have sunflowers next year, too.