A wine estate is celebrating a sunflower feast, and my camera wanted to go.
One can buy a flower arrangement consisting of 5 big sunflowers, and a bottle of wine for ZAR150.
**Here is some more information about the celebration below. **
Vergelegen Wine Estate’s vast one-hectare field of sunflowers has burst into bloom, marking the start of the highly-anticipated annual Sunflower Festival.
Fans of these large, vibrant blooms ‒ which traditionally symbolise warmth, positivity and vitality ‒ can celebrate sunflowers in several ways:
Freshly picked sunflowers are sold in the Wine Tasting Room, at five stems per bunch, together with a special edition of rosé wine, for R150. A portion of the proceeds will go to honey bee research and honey projects on the estate.
Stables restaurant is offering a small set menu of sunflower- and honey-inspired dishes, in addition to its normal menu. The Rose Terrace Tea Room pastry chef, Tarquin Wagemaker, has created delicious sunflower-inspired cakes.
Farm honey is sold at R155/jar and visitors to the Potting Shed Gift Shop receive free packets of sunflower seeds. The field of sunflowers, near the Stables restaurant, is also popular for selfies.
“We expect the sunflowers to continue blooming for about three weeks (to around mid-February) depending on the weather conditions,” say Vergelegen’s resident horticulturists Richard Arm and Chris Randlehoff.
Vergelegen marketing manager Caroline van Schalkwyk advises sunflower fans to visit the farm early. “The blooms are picked fresh every day, but sell out fast,” she advises. “Stocks of seeds and sunflower-inspired products are limited.”
This below is a lovely sunflower tower to promote the occasion.
Right, now let's go with my photos.
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Let me show you the life cycle of a sunflower.
This is a bud in the developing process.
Slowly starting to unfurl its leaves.
Good looking now already.
And then it bursts open to show its beauty. Even the honeybees like it.
Finally, the sunflower head turns into seeds to ready itself for harvesting.
Oh! and I almost forgot to show you my sunflower in the field.
I call her the wunderkind of nature, as she is at her happiest whenever she can forage between plants and bushes in nature. She also searches for all kinds of medicinal plants, and I drink so much of the stuff, that I feel like a tree :)
**And so, for all Saffers that are around in the Western Cape area, this celebration will last until the middle of February, and you are most welcome to pop in for a visit. All information is included in the link up above. Tourists can also plan to put this on their bucket list whenever they decide to visit the Western Cape Province. **
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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