CIRCLEVILLE – A Few miles out on Walnut Creek Pike, there is an area that some people would call a slice of heaven. The Vickers family plants thousands of sunflowers along the entire quarter-mile driveway, and they bloom around this time of year.
We asked the homeowners why they planted such a magnificent sight. “I planted them for the beauty and for the wildlife, I see birds like finches and doves in them all the time,” Wayne Vickers.
Finches love sunflower seeds and the leaves, the Bees also help pollinate the sunflower plants and make honey from the pollen.
“It also helps the Honey Bees to survive and help pollinate other plants.” Many species of Bees will visit sunflowers, but Honey Bees and Bumble Bees are known to be effective pollinators of sunflowers, said Vickers.
Corn this year frame the left and the right of the thousands of blooming plants. The sunflowers usually start blooming now and will be gone in a few weeks.
Vickers also said that in (2017) was a special year because he had a grand-baby born and they took baby pictures with the sunflowers. “We have had many people take graduation pictures and wedding pictures with the sunflowers in the backdrop.”
We asked Wayne asked what are the future plans for them? Vickers replied, “I am not sure how I will plant in the future, I used to plant both sides which is even more stark and beautiful. We originally planted it for my daughter’s wedding reception. When you drive up the driveway and both sides are blooming, it is spectacular.
“We do worry when people drive up the driveway and turn around, we have our dogs out and they like to chase cars so we ask that people take pictures and look from the road and not come up the driveway.”
