'Disappointment' as sunflower field fails to grow

A sunflower attraction the size of five-and-a-half football pitches will not be opening this year after its millions of plants failed to grow because of a lack of rainfall.

The Sunflower Field, in Horringer near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was due to open to visitors for a third consecutive summer at the end of the month.

However, the crop of two-and-a-half-million sunflowers was severely impacted by the recent hot and dry weather.

Sarah Maddever, from R H Maddever Farms, which owns the field, said the lack of yield was "very disappointing for everybody".

"When the flowers are all out, it's very calm and it's absolutely stunning, it's beautiful," Maddever told the BBC.

"The field has been really popular. People love to come to cut their own sunflowers, walk through them, sit and enjoy the stunning view, and take lots of pictures.

"And we're right beside a road, so everybody gets to see them grow as well and they love watching them develop over the time, so it's very disappointing for everybody."

The seeds were planted on the 10-acre plot in May, but, because of the recent hot weather, they were having to try to grow in extremely dry seed beds.

"We had very little rain the next week and since then we've had none, and the rain that we did have just didn't get down to where the seed sits," Maddever said.

"Last year we got to the middle of July thinking we weren't going to be able to open, and then all of a sudden, they came up a lot more.

"But these ones this year just haven't come up at all. So, we're not going to be able to open. It's very difficult."

Other farmers, however, have had more luck.

Frog's Farm, near Eye, for example, has about half a million sunflowers in its eight-acre field, which visitors will be able to visit from this Saturday until August.

Freddy Vaudrey, the site's owner, said: "I'd like to think that we've got better at growing them, but there may be a bit of luck involved as well.

"We managed to conserve some moisture from the winter and we've got a very fancy drill that managed to get them in nice and tight in time."

Vaudrey said his team had started putting more preparation into setting up the field during good weather in the autumn to help give their flowers the best chance to grow.

"The moisture is crucial for the germination, but once they start, all they need from there is sun, because they're very good at finding moisture down in the soil," he said.

"But once they're away, I leave them alone and let the sun do the work."

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