PHOTOS AND TEXT BY MICHELE MILLER
What’s What New Port Richey
How many pictures can you take in a field of sunflowers? Let me count the ways.
So, so many.
Evidently there are some 70 species of Helianthus, among them the “Common Sunflower” or Helianthus annuus found commonly in these parts of north America.
They are like snowflakes, no two alike, I was thinking as the old man and I meandered through the sunflower maze on a recent Saturday morning at Harvestmoon Fun Farm in Masaryktown. It was one of those “take advantage while it’s cool” days, so we ventured to one of two u-pick-ums that are just a car ride away from our New Port Richey homestead.
On a side note – Sweetfields Farm, is in close proximity, and is also celebrating the sunflower season weekend with similar family-friendly offerings.
Tickets are required at both farms. We got our (free) tickets/reservations in advance online, and paid $20 for a wristband at the gate. (Note – at the time they were requesting visitors to wear masks at the gate area, and many families and children were masking there.) We were also offered shears, but we brought our own as well as a watering can to give the flowers a drink on the drive home. We left with seven unique stems that brighten up the kitchen table these days.
The grandkids enjoyed a visit there with their mom and dad, a weekend earlier, for Mother’s Day – a perfect outing as Helianthus are my daughter-in-law’s favorite flower. I’m told the kids enjoyed the petting zoo, games and just running around in the wide open space.
Bottom line – it was well worth it just to be out and about in a field of flowers on a beautiful day listening to the animated conversations of families seeking out the perfect specimens and returning home with a bright bouquet to remind us of a morning well spent.
Thinking you might want to give it a go? Click on the website links to Harvestmoon Fun Farm and Sweetfields Farm and do check out the slideshow below :).
SUNFLOWER SLIDE SHOW
PHOTOS | MICHELE MILLER
Sunflower Close Up. PHOTO | MICHELE MILLER 
Fields in bloom. Harvestmoon Fun Farm in Masaryktown, Florida. PHOTO | MICHELLE MILLER 
‘Back of a flower’ – a nod to Salvador Dali’s ‘Back of a Girl” See the flower at Harvestmoon Fun Farm in Masaryktown, Florida. Catch the painting at the Dali Museum in St. Pete. PHOTO | MICHELE MILLER 
“Farrah Fawcett Flower.” Harvestmoon Fun Farm in Masaryktown, Florida. PHOTO | MICHELE MILLER 
PHOTO | MICHELE MILLER
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