Sunflowers

There is a field of sunflowers in Raleigh that has suddenly become famous. Park-a-mile-away-and-walk famous. There were murmurs about the field that is owned by the City of Raleigh, but it all of the sudden blew up. I've seen a blogger from Raleigh posting pictures there and Southern Living reposted someone's Instragram picture of it! It truly is a hit, and what's not to love? Sunflowers are my favorite flower, so I couldn't pass up an opportunity to go take a few snapshots of the field. I recently bought a new lens for my camera, so it was the perfect opportunity to test it out.

My parents and sisters had been Sunday evening and the flowers had started dying a bit since then. The vast majority of them were turned away (towards the east, where the sun rises), but they were beautiful nonetheless! The field is located along the road and along a walking/biking trail. There is a fence that separates the trail from the field because the field is city-owned property. It has become such a tourist attraction that there are now signs (and there have been multiple news reports) telling people not to trespass beyond the fence. No one pays attention to that rule, though, and there were multiple people in the field with their children taking pictures and even picking the flowers.

The flowers will be harvested later to be processed into biodiesel and the City of Raleigh has been applying wastewater sludge from the nearby water treatment plant to the field. I have to think that the people laying on the ground out there have no idea that's the case. It makes for beautiful blooms, but not necessarily the place to put your baby on the ground and take pictures!

The beauty of sunflowers never ceases to amaze me! Harrison asked me what I wanted him to put in his garden this year- I replied "sunflowers." Naturally, the sunflowers were the only thing he killed. Thanks, babe. At least I got my fix not too far from home!