What to Know
- Irvine
- 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Sunflower maze included with admission ($4)
If there was an index to measure General Flower Excitement, the kind of meter that reads when a flowery fervor is in the air, this much is true: The needle would be pushing into the red zone each spring.
Why?
Because that's when poppies pop, and lupines get lovely, and the deserts are in glorious goldenrod-y bloom. Wildflowers are catching our attention, in short, and we're on the search for the next spectacular carpet of petals.
But cultivated flowers have their noteworthy days in the sun, too, and one of the most iconic examples of floral beauty is popping at Tanaka Farms in Irvine.
Eager to seed, er, see what we mean?
It's sunflower time at the history-filled spread, which is also famous for its strawberries, and corn, too, and so many other nice-to-nosh fruits and vegetables.
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In July, however? The sunflower is queen.
And right now, as the seventh month opens its own proverbial petals, the smaller sunflowers are looking lovely 'round the 30-acre spread. Not only that, but the property's Sunflower Maze is open, and entry is included in your four-dollar admission.
Hold up, though, for there's more sunflower anticipation to stoke, as the bigger sunflowers are still on the way. Look for those huge-head'd wonders to start filling social feeds in a couple of weeks.
"We expect the giant sunflowers to be in peak bloom..." around the middle of July, is the good word from Tanaka Farms.
Hold out, is what we're advising, and on, too, if you like your sunflowers to be on the sizable side. The big blossoms are just ahead.
Or do we mean "just a head"? After all, few flowers come as close to being as large as a human head as a sunflower. And few flowers grow as tall as we do.
Are they, in a way, the people of the flower world? And, if so, does that make us the sunflowers of humanity?
Deep thoughts.
As for everything else growing, opening, bursting, and flavoring-up Tanaka Farms? Look here for all of your melon, shishito peppers, and berry-beautiful needs.
