Four sunflower fields near Wichita welcome visitors
If you’re looking for a sunflower field or two to visit in the next few weeks, you’re in luck.
Four sunflower fields within an hour’s drive of Wichita that are open to visitors provide different experiences.
At the Kansas Maze farm near Buhler, which is about 50 miles northwest of Wichita, the 16plus acres of sunflowers are just one part of the attraction, where visitors can play oversized yard games like Jenga, Connect Four and sand volleyball, and kids can jump on an inflatable pillow, navigate a rope maze, slide down a giant slide and do other activities.
For fun photos and selfies, owner Tonya Martisko positions various props throughout the fields. A new prop this year is a vintage piano, she said. Another new feature this year is a small field of blooming zinnias.
Special events during what the farm bills as its Sunflower Festival include a trail run and walk, a market day with live music and food trucks, and teacher-led paint nights.
Martisko said the fields should be ready to greet the more than 400 participants participating in the farm’s Aug. 24 Sunflower Trail Run, which has competitive and noncompetitive 5K options and a 1-mile walk/run. The first two of the farm’s seven paint nights are also scheduled for this weekend.
The festival is expected to continue through mid-September.
Two of the farms — the Peterson
Farm Brothers’ Sunflower Trails in Lindsborg and Realtor Diana Burress’ farm in Augusta — offer much simpler, no-frills walks among the stalks. The Burress farm does offer an added photo opportunity of a sunflower mural painted on a nearby silo. Both farms anticipate their fields will be blooming the last week of August.
This year, the sunflower field at Klausmeyer Farm, located about 20 miles southwest of Wichita near Clearwater, is expected to bloom just in time to be included with the farm’s pumpkin patch season, which kicks off on Sept. 21.
PLANNING A VISIT
Keep in mind that the blooming season for Kansas sunflowers lasts only about 10 to 14 days. That’s why it’s a good idea to check a farm’s Facebook page, where the operators usually post updates on field conditions.
Here’s more information about activities and admission if you plan to visit one or some of the four fields where Kansas’ state flower will be blooming in the next few weeks. Two other area farms, Cedar Creek Farm in Maize and LBR Family Farm near west Wichita, had sunflower fields that bloomed in early July.
Kansas Maze Sunflower Festival, at Gaeddert Farms 13209 E. 82nd Ave., Buhler. The fields are open now and are expected to continue blooming
through about mid-September. Hours are 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, and 2 to 8 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and Labor Day, with extended hours during special events. Regular admission is $10 per person, with ages 3 and under free. Admission includes one yellow sunflower to take home and access to all the farm’s playland activities.
Advance online registration for the Aug. 24 Sunflower Trail event ends at 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23; cost is $50 for either 5K option (a competitive run or a noncompetitive run/walk) and $40 for the 1-mile run/walk. Sameday registration is $5 more and is available at 7 a.m.
More than 100 vendors, plus food trucks and live music, are scheduled for the Sunflower Market on Saturday, Aug. 31. Purchase advance tickets online for the Aug. 31 Sunflower Market to take advantage of a $2 discount on admission. Sunflower Market VIP tickets, which are $40, include admission, a festival T-shirt, vendor coupons and market spending cash ranging from $5 to $50.
Teacher-led painting classes featuring a sunflower scene are scheduled for 6:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday nights from Aug. 24 through Sept. 8. Cost is $25; classes are limited to 25 participants, with a four-person minimum.
More information: kansasmaze.com; facebook.com/ kansasmaze or 620-9317667
Diana Burress/ B. Realty’s sunflower field,
9251 SW 115th, Augusta. The farm is half a mile west of SW Thunder Road. This field, which is free to visit, is expected to be ready the last week of August.
“I think this year will be a spectacular year for the sunflowers,” Burress said in a Facebook video filmed this past weekend in the field.
There is designated parking since parking along the road is discouraged as it’s a busy road, often including large farm machinery. Besides taking photos in the field, another photo opportunity is the sunflower mural on a nearby silo. More info: facebook.com/ dianaburressrealtor
Sunflower Trails at the Heights venue, Peterson Farm Brothers,
near 2951 13th Ave., Lindsborg. The Peterson
Farm Brothers plant their sunflower fields at their wedding and special event venue called The Heights. The venue takes its name from nearby Coronado Heights, a bluff named one of Kansas’ eight geographic wonders. Anticipated blooming dates are the last week of August to mid-September. Admission is $5 per person or $10 per family; even dogs are welcome as long as they are on a leash. More info: petersonfarmbrothers. com/sunflower-trails and facebook.com/ PetersonFarmBros
Klausmeyer Farm and Pumpkin Patch, 813 S. 119th SW, Clearwater. Dry conditions earlier this summer along with cropplanting and other farming obligations led to a late planting of sunflowers at Klausmeyer Farm, said co-owner Debbie Klausmeyer.
That’s why this year, the sunflower field has been added to the farm’s pumpkin patch season, which opens Sept. 21. Hours are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily; admission is $9 per person on the weekdays and $11 on weekdays, with 2 and younger being free. More info: klausmeyerdairyfarms. com, facebook.com/ Klausmeyerpumpkinpatch or 316-703-5391