There have been large fields of sunflowers in my neighbourhood for many years. The Dicks and the Reids grow them every year for their business. I had 40 acres in one of my fields for two summers on land that I rented out.
I never saw anyone showing much interest in the bright blossoming flowers other than driving by slowly. People were much more curious about the nearby fields of canola — a sea of tall yellow plants. A few years ago a woman living near a large field of blooming canola plants asked me why the farmer doesn’t spray the golden rods. They’re massive, she said. And she was surprised that they were out so early that summer.
I have had people tell me they had no idea what the yellow plants are. Dandelions, mustard and golden rods were three guesses.
Canola blooms in July and Golden rods are visible during the autumn months.
Two Sundays ago, when I was driving on Highway 60 towards home, I could see numerous vehicles in the distance on both sides of the road. People were crossing the busy road and my first thought was that there had been an accident — maybe a car was in the deep ditch. Then I thought maybe a horse and buggy got hit and folks were trying to help. As I got closer I saw women with children at hand crossing the road. Then I knew it was the field of sunflowers that attracted all the attention.
Never mind the wild parsnip plants in and along the ditch. No fear of the dreaded ticks. These tourists, mostly women in short pants and showing bare legs, were walking right through the weed-infested grassy ditch and climbing an old barb wire fence to get a selfie of the sunflowers.
A few days later I was driving the side road beside the plants and there was a sporty vehicle parked partly on the road. I slowed down and observed a leggy woman in shorts coming out of the ditch with a camera in hand. Now I’m not one to walk down a ditch that’s unknown to me for fear of twisting an ankle or maybe there’s a skunk in the grass. I worry about poison ivy. This brave young woman probably wore sandal-type footwear.
Why all the interest in sunflowers now? It started at a bird seed farm near Hamilton on July 20. A sunflower grower thought he could make some extra money and charged $7.50 a person (kids under 12 free) to tour the 1.3 kilometre walking path through their sunflower field. I don’t understand why they did not just charge an even five bucks. Or seven bucks.
The sunflower grower was soon backtracking on the idea, after it was swarmed by selfie-seeking visitors who trampled all over the crops and clogged up the nearby highway.
What they hadn’t taken into consideration was social media — where selfies snapped were quickly going viral.
“Everyone was laughing and having fun,” the grower told the Globe and Mail. “Then all of Toronto showed up.”
On Saturday, cars began rolling in hours before the farm was set to open. By noon, the area was flooded with sunflower seekers, some who had parked more than a kilometre away.
Police were soon called in to help manage the chaos. People, at times with strollers or children in tow, were crossing four lanes of traffic to get to the farm.
After the crowd swelled to an estimated 7,000 cars — far exceeding the space available in the farm’s 300-car parking lot — police asked the family to shut down the operation
Talk about single-minded silly selfie sunflower seekers.
