The field, located at the end of West 8th Street and Cedar Avenue, is eight acres and mainly features a variety called Lemon Queen. The field’s flowers grew to be about nine feet, though this variety usually only grows to about five to seven. Coordinator Maggie Buettner said she first encountered the idea on a trip up north.

“My son and I were headed to Duluth,” she said. “We came upon a field of sunflowers up north on our way and fell in love with it. We wanted to bring it back to our community. Talked to the guy who had the field up north; he came down and helped us planted the first two years. This year we kept it going and it’s totally community-based.

Buettner said they planted the flowers July 16 and only received around 3 inches of rain total by opening time August 25. This makes the increased length of this year’s crop all the more impressive. There are several challenges with a field of this size.

“Praying for rain was our biggest challenge,” Buettner said. “There’s a lot of weeds and because sunflowers are a broad leaf you can’t go and spray. We only could spray for the grass. Luckily, sunflowers can handle the drought conditions. It’s a pretty easy crop to grow. And these are deer resistant; we didn’t even have issues with the deer eating them. It’s been a lot of fun to watch them grow when they finally could.”

The entryway to the Gibbon Sunflower Field features a scannable QR code. The code goes to a map attendees can use to walk through the various trails that snake through the eight acre field.

The park features several props for guests to interact with. These include a giant chair, miniature piano, minion statue, and a small homestead play place called Howie’s Haven. Buettner said many of these came from the generosity of the community.

“A lot of them are donated from different businesses,” she said. “This year, because it’s community based, the businesses were asked to sponsor a prop. Some of them brought in their own props or they gave us a little extra cash and then we made something to stick out there in the field with their name on it to show how well the community works together.”

Daughter and Mother Caryn and Judy Riebe made sure to get a picture sitting on the giant chair when they stopped by. They have visited the attraction since it opened three years ago. Caryn Riebe said there are a few reasons why they return year after year.

“The displays and what they’ve done different,” she said. “They change and [have] the different varieties of sunflowers. There’s one out there 15 feet tall. That’s a lot of feet. And [the flowers], the beauty of them and how many [varieties they have].”

Dustin and Carrie Bliss visited with their children Willow and Winona for the second year in a row. They believe the sunflower field is a fantastic way to get their kids out and about.

“The nice fun festivities for all the kids,” Dustin Bliss said. “It’s a very kid friendly atmosphere and keeps them busy. Let’s them play outside and enjoy nature?”

The couple agreed Willow and Winona enjoyed the piano and Howie’s Haven the most.

The attraction is free to attend and open from dawn to dusk every day from now until September 10. For more information, visit the sunflower field’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094349106915