Sunflower Maze

[yourlibrarian]

Last year a field for sunflowers on the edge of town became an attraction, given that people were desperate to go somewhere outdoors for an hour or so and it was certainly quite a sight.

This year a nearby farm decided to change part of its acres from corn to sunflowers and make it an attraction for people to visit. There's no charge, though there's a sign with a number for people to text donations. In the top photo you can see the sunflowers stretching off into the distance.



As a "maze" there's not much to it, just a few different walking paths through it, unless a wider row as in the above picture can be considered a dead end mislead. But as a place to walk it's very nice. We went first thing in the morning to beat the heat and any crowds. There were already people there but there was plenty of walking space and the families with kids (which was almost everyone there when we arrived and left) probably spent about the same time as we did, which was about 20 minutes.



The bees were very active in the sunflower field, something visitors are warned about on the website. I found it heartening that so many of them are around. As this land had previously been planted with corn, corn stalks were popping up here and there. The photo below amused me because it looks like the nearby sunflowers are all looking down at the corn stalks as if asking "What are you doing here?"



The sunflowers themselves tended to pop up everywhere and I'm guessing this one got big before being spotted. It was allowed to keep growing but now, given the size of its bloom weighing it down, it's like it could use the caption "the loneliest sunflower."



Below I spotted a crow perching on some sunflowers but as most of them are nearing 6 feet, I couldn't get the camera high enough and still focus properly. But I still liked the sea of sunflower heads.

Comments

[semielliptical]

Such a cheerful sight! It's great that people are encouraged to walk there and see the flowers up close.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, it's quite something to see them all in bloom at the same time.

[cmcmck]

They don't grow much here but you get the same effect with oil seed rape, although in that case the paths are simply those for the tractors.

[yourlibrarian]

That's interesting because they seem to grow very easily here. Sunflower seeds are a common part of birdseed mixes, or for certain species, it's entirely sunflowers. We discovered two seeds had sprouted in a bag, since we store it from May - September or however long the plants are on the balcony. My SO decided to plant them and after a few weeks a tiny sunflower bloomed from one of them!

[allekha]

So many sunflowers! Looks like a nice place for a walk.

[yourlibrarian]

It's nice that it's so close to us too.

[shirebound]

The bees must be pleased! Thanks for sharing this lovely place.

[yourlibrarian]

An enormous buffet for them alright!

[pameladean]

Oh, that's gorgeous. And yes, sunflowers do look as if they are engaging in scrutiny of various things. Like groups of saguaros, they seem to be holding a conference all the time.

P.

[yourlibrarian]

Haha, yes!

[pilottttt]

Great shots!

[yourlibrarian]

Thanks!