Wild Sunflowers At Sunset

One evening this week while driving around, we found an entire field of wild sunflowers. Acres and acres of them. The plant is called Maximilian Sunflower, and they bloom in the fall. I wanted a good pic of the entire field, so I walked out into it only to find that all I could see were the ones right in front of me – the plants are about SEVEN FEET tall, and it was like standing in a group of people who are all a couple feet taller than me. I sulked and dragged myself back out of the field, and lost my lens cap in the process. But last night I went back out with a plan on how to get a shot of the entire field short of dragging a ladder out into it. I held the camera up over my head and clicked away blindly. Duh….why didn’t I think of that before?

I hung around for a while to take pics of them at sunset – the magic hour.

The Maximilian Sunflower is a native flower.

It produces a lot of seed, which is good for wildlife.

It can be found throughout Kansas, and the plant is nutritious for livestock.

Native Americans used it for food, oil, dye, and thread.

Pioneers planted them near their homes for mosquito control, and used the blossoms in their bathwater to ease arthritis pain.

I never did find my lost lens cap, but I did enjoy my time with the sunflowers.

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Suzanne

Cattle, corn, wheat, beans, mud, snow, ice, and drought. Plenty of fresh air and quiet. Our life is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyous, but never boring.

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21 Responses

  1. Vivian says:

    Wow! A field of gold. Beautiful. No wonder Kansas is the Sunflower State!

  2. Teresa says:

    If it really keeps mosquitoes away, I’m all for planting them here. Beautiful pictures!

  3. Peggy says:

    When we lived over seas in Spain I saw a field of sun flowers. I would love to see all of the fields around where you live. Just breath taking! Thanks for sharing.

  4. Doe of Mi. says:

    Like I commented before about these flowers “I didn’t know they existed” so I want to ‘thank you’ for all the info on them. Really interesting that they have been put to use in so
    many ways by so many people and critters to boot. And now
    they are eye candy for all of us here. 😉

  5. JMart says:

    Good morning!

    I stumbled onto this blog through another site. I have been interested in all things Kansas ever since my granddaughter was born at Fort Riley.

    They’ve moved on now to other places but the state holds a special place in these New England hearts.

    We especially loved the Flint Hills and the Konza prairie. Your pictures evoke memories of that time.

  6. Susan says:

    You photo’s are amazing. I moved to NW Kansas about 1.5 years ago, from Seattle, Washington and have so many similar photo’s. Many thanks for sharing. I will be checking back and trying your recipes.

  7. These were beautiful shots! Sunset is such a pretty time of day. You did good girl! That stinks about losing the lens cap! I would love to see something like this! I would be in awe!

  8. Misty Dawn says:

    The images are gorgeous! When I find myself in this situation, I climb on top of my vehicle. Yes, I have serious issues… anything for a photo.

  9. Your blind clicking sure produced some wonderful shots! I love that flower, too! Does it grow in that big of an area on its own, or did someone plant them?

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