Our sunflower field is over six acres … that’s more than six football fields! The sunflowers were planted in stages, staggered to give us continuous blooming for a few weeks. We estimate that there are over 100,000 sunflower seeds that we planted. Crazy, right?

And what’s even crazier, is that while they’re growing, sunflowers actually follow the sun. Called heliotropism,  the flower buds and young blossoms will face east in the morning and follow the sun as the earth moves during the day so they face west at night. As the flowers get heavier during seed production, the stems stiffen and the mature flower heads will usually stay facing east.

Although sunflowers are relatively easy to grow, they need lots of sun & room to grow. They grow best with about 6-8 hours of sun a day, more is even better. That’s why they grow so well in an open field.  Depending on the variety, sunflowers can grow as tall as 16 feet. If planted too close together, they’ll compete with each other and not bloom to their full potential.

But what’s absolutely amazing about sunflowers is that each sunflower’s head is actually made up of tiny flowers. A sunflower has petals around it’s outside, with the tiny flowers in the middle where the seeds develop.

Now that you’re intrigued by all these sunflower facts, be sure to visit our Sunflower Trail and marvel at its beauty. Weather permitting, the trail should be in bloom through mid August, possibly even a little later. Our Sunflower Trail packages include options for  hayride tour around the farm, playing in our family fun activity area, and cutting sunflowers to take home. There’s lots to do at the farm … you can visit with our farm animals and pick raspberries too! Be sure to follow us on social media for updates.