Field of sunflowers at Mangamaire farm, Tararua, attract visitors

A sea of colour - the sunflowers in full bloom. Photo / Supplied

"Amazing" and "incredible" were just some of the adjectives used to describe a field of sunflowers on a Tararua farm.

What started out as a way to slow down traffic on a busy rural road became something of a tourist attraction.

Thousands of sunflowers have been growing in a field on a Mangamaire farm, next to a road often used by travellers between Palmerston North and the Wairarapa wanting to bypass Pahiatua.

The flowers have provided a bright spot in what has so far been a summer full of uncertainty.

"It's so happy," says Abbe Hoare, who came up with the idea.

"Everybody just needs a little bit of something happy at the moment."

Sunflowers, like all flowers, have different meanings depending on the culture. For instance, in Chinese culture, sunflowers are meant to be good luck and long-lasting happiness, while in others they're linked to positivity and loyalty.

Greek mythology talks about a nymph who fell in love with the sun god Apollo who became jealous when he began paying attention to another nymph. When she decided to get revenge, he turned her into a sunflower. She turns toward him when he passes.

The myth is one explanation for why sunflowers turn toward the sun. And why sunflowers are considered a rather cheerful flower.

"It's pretty hard to be sad in there," Abbe says of the field.

Abbe, who has lived on the property for the past three years with her partner, hadn't grown sunflowers before.

She had been living in the Hawke's Bay and working as a mammographer.

"Which was a job I absolutely loved."

She followed her partner to the 90-hectare farm and convinced him to let her have a section where she could grow flowers, which was something she'd always loved doing.

She planted 47,000 seeds and reckons she's had about a 70 per cent germination rate.

She says the flowers got a good watering with all the rain in December which might have helped with the germination rate.

When people began asking to visit the farm just to see the sunflowers, Abbe decided to hold open days on weekends.

On one weekend she had 1700 visitors and the next she had 2000.

During the week, people could book privately for 30 minutes so they could enjoy it and take photos.

Abbe, who also has a passion for photography, has also done her own family shoots among the flowers with her two daughters, Florence and Maeve.

She was amazed at the numbers of people wanting to come.

"The response has been incredible really."

Sunflowers usually flower for 8-12 weeks, but Abbe's seem to be starting to die off now.

While she's disappointed, she thinks a possible reason could be the dry heat the Tararua has been experiencing.

Rainfall has been low on average with Palmerston North and Masterton both getting a total of about 10mm in January and Dannevirke getting around 21mm.

Temperatures averaged about 24C for all three main centres.

Abbe's now looking forward to having more sunflowers next year with the hope of a bit more rain so they'll last a little longer.