Sunflowers add colour to Claremont farm

Sunflowers adorn roadside paddocks at Paul and Emma Carrol's Taiko Rd property. Photo: Alexia Johnston

Bold sunflowers are brightening up Paul and Emma Carrol's South Canterbury farm.

The Carrols have rows of sunflowers growing along some of their roadside paddocks, adding colour to the property and a novelty for passersby to enjoy.

Two paddocks on their Claremont farm, which can be seen from Taiko Rd, feature the sunflowers, which they purchased as birdseed, Mr Carrol said.

An initial glance suggests one of the paddocks is completely covered in the large, bright blooms.

However, both paddocks feature just a row of the flowers about 7m wide, described by Mr Carrol as being like a false front, similar to those seen in a Western movie set.

The rest of the paddocks are full of swedes, which his sheep graze on.

While the birds are big fans of the sunflowers, the sheep have been known to get up on their hind legs to enjoy them too, he said.

Mr Carrol said the idea came from a neighbour, who had planted sunflowers on their property.

''We've done it here since, just for pleasure.''

He said this year's sunflowers bloomed early and although the seeds were planted at both locations on the same day and received the same fertiliser, the flowers in one paddock had grown taller.

Mr Carrol puts it down to soil quality.

''One [paddock] is a wetter site so [those sunflowers] are shorter and flowered earlier.
''The soil is just a wee bit poorer where they are shorter,'' he said.

However, the shorter ones were still a sight, standing at about 1.5m tall.

Once the flowers are past their best, the stalks fall to the ground, making way for seeds to be planted for the next season.

-By Alexia Johnston
Central Rural Life