Annual Sunflower Festival in N.B. provides guest experience and help for pollinators

With four-to-five acres of bright yellow standing tall outside of Trueman Blueberry Farms, it’s easy for guests to get caught-up in the view of the budding sunflowers.

“It’s very beautiful and this is my first time seeing something like this,” said Linda Davidge, who was visiting with her family on the opening day of the 2024 Sunflower Festival on Friday.

“In Ontario they do the same thing, they have lovely sunflower fields that you can explore, so this is something new for me, so enjoyable and a great day to do it.”

With tall flowers that are still growing, pathways are cut throughout the two blooming fields for people to walk through.

For Mandy Maillet and her family, driving from Moncton to see the sunflowers was a no-brainer.

“I had sunflowers actually at my wedding along with gerbera daisies, so they’re very similar and I just love how tall they are and they’re a very strong flower,” she said.

“I love sunflowers, my cousin and my daughter, my family, we all love sunflowers so we wanted to just come out and see it and pick some bouquets of sunflowers.”

Mixed in amongst the sunflowers are wildflowers and u-pick bouquets which are available for purchase so people can take a piece of the farm, and their favourite flowers, home with them.

Abigail Maillet who is 8-years-old had a huge bouquet by the end of her visit.

“I really wanted to just take all of them home, but there aren’t enough vases, so me and my mom just picked a re-useable one and we each started picking a bunch of flowers because we all really like sunflowers and daisies,” she said.

“I was really happy because I really wanted to find some orange and red ones because I don’t see them too often.”

Since 2017 Trueman Blueberry Farms has planted a sunflower maze and garden every summer.

The reason behind it is twofold: give visitors a picturesque experience and give back to those who need it the most.

“Most people have heard the honey bees as well as other nature pollinators have been under a lot of pressure the last number of years and one of the pressure points for them is actual pasture,” said Trueman Blueberry Farms owner, Tom Trueman.

“We wanted something that was going to enhance that food source for our bees and the natural pollinators, as well as in the fall, we get lots of blue jays and other birds that like the sunflower seeds and we don’t actually harvest the heads, so they actually provide a great resource for lots of wildlife through the balance of the season.”

Hundreds of sunflowers span the field at Trueman Blueberry Farms. (CTV/Alana Pickrell) Trueman Blueberry Farms has bees as part of their commercial farm business, and they could be seen and heard amongst the flowers Friday.

The sunflower season typically kicks off mid-August and Trueman says since they plant in stages, they will have blooms until the first frost in early October.

While still at the beginning of the season, this year has yielded a good crop so far.

“They tend to grow and point towards the prevailing sun. I believe they’re called a heliotrope, which means they’re sun followers or sun seekers and that’s one of the reasons why you get such a striking photos is all the flowers are pointed towards the prevailing sun,” he said.

Adding, “They’re like goldilocks plants, they like to have the right amount of heat, the right amount of water and the right amount of sun.”

Visitors also get the chance to ride the train through the sunflower fields, play in our happy place and purchase their well-known homemade ice-cream, drawing in people of all ages from all over.

“I wanted to get out and explore where we’re originally from. We just got back from B.C., so we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful day,” said Sherise Killam.

The Sunflower Festival is open daily from Friday until Sept. 2.

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