Help me find the sunflowers!
 

Does that title make sound like I am stoned?

My "second mother" loves sunflowers and has always said her dream would be to be in a field surrounded by sunflowers. She is now dying of cancer and will never have the opportunity.

We are spending our honeymoon in Italy and will be in Tuscany for the better part of four days. Are there certain areas where the fields of sunflowers I have seen in picture are located? A certain area I should make an attempt to go through just for the sunflowers. I want to take a picture of the sunflowers, if at all possible, for her. We will be based in Siena but plan to day trip around the Tuscany area as much as possible.

Or am I totally mistaken and there really aren't any sunflowers in Italy?

It's unlikely that you'd find blooming sunflowers anywhere in hte world in June; they tend to be late-summer bloomers. If I were you, I'd contact a local florist and make a special request for some potted ones (greenhouses can fool plants into thinking it's any time of year) and then arrange them around her, outdoors if possible.

Hi
what a lovely thought. I don't know about Italy, but I've seen fields of sunflowers in Provence in late July and Aug, June does sound too early.

I just Googled photo sunflowers and came up with these, to name a few

http://www.acclaimstockphotography.c...0916-0616.html

http://www.sharpphoto.com/sunflowers.html

http://www.stevefoote.net/sunflowers_page.htm

good luck

Sunflowers won't bloom in Tuscany until July but I have seen cut sunflowers, perhaps from South America, several places including Whole Foods Markets.

Hi

I think you are a little early.
But is this what you had in mind : http://tlp.netfirms.com/sunflowers.jpg

Peter
The Languedoc Page
http://tlp.netfirms.com

I was in Italy last June 9th until the 25th and there were sunflowers everywhere especially between Florence and Verona.

I think it also depends on how earlier the summer begins in Italy. Last year we had an exceptionally hot summer, with heat waves beginning in May, therefore crops, fruit trees and flowers bloomed in advance. This year it looks to be a little colder due to the fact that these last days of May it has rained a lot and in the northern parts of Italy it has even snowed (in May... go figure...).
Also Umbria has a landscape which is similar to Tuscany. I had seen some sunflowers fields around Perugia, Todi, Assisi too.
Sorry to hear about your mother....
Also, consider that the tuscan hills with its extensive vineyards and olive fields are really beautiful in summer, sometimes, especially in late afternoon/dusk the tuscan hills are awesome, tinted with the sunset colours, silence all around...

The year before last we drove from Venice to Spoleto (Umbria) around the 20th of June and there were field of sunflowers in bloom. It had been in the high 80s while we were in Venice.

So, the sunflowers are there, all over Umbria and Tuscany, it just depends upon the weather.

You might try the London National Gallery or the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

I too am interested in flowers blooming, but was wondering more when the poppies STOPPED blooming. Can anyone give me an estimate on this?
We will be in Italy 6/9-6/25. Will we miss them?
Thank you !
DebiC

I remember being surprised to see a field of sunflowers on a train ride from Florence to Lucca once in late June.

Poppies may very well still be blooming in June, especially this year, since Italy had a relatively cold winter.