Gallery: Warraba Sunflowers near Toowoomba attracts thousands for launch of winter crop
A not-so-surprise wedding proposal headlined the massive opening weekend of Warraba Sunflowers’ winter crop. Check out the gallery of photos here:
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Jennifer Hodges got a life-changing surprise when her partner Nick Rafter told her to look inside a sunflower while visiting the fields at Warraba.
“We were in the fields and I was taking photos of these flowers and he was up ahead — he told me to look into this particular flower and the ring was in there,” the Brisbane insurance worker said.
The couple’s “perfect” marriage proposal headlined another massive weekend for the region’s popular sunflower fields just outside Cambooya, with thousands packing out Warraba to walk through and collect the sunny flora as a souvenir.
Ms Hodges said while she suspected an engagement was coming, her partner’s move was still a surprise.
“It was perfect, especially for someone who loves sunflowers like me,” she said.
“We’re actually eloping in August, it’s all happening pretty quick.
“We’re not having a wedding, just a photographer and a celebrant in Maleny, so that was already in the works before the proposal.”
Toowoomba couple Katrina and Tim Dean picked more than 40 flowers from the fields on Saturday, with the goal of brightening the lives of some of their elderly friends.
“We have a little old lady who used to live near us, and she loves sunflowers,” Ms Dean said.
“We collected about 40 and we want to give them to six people.
“We’re just trying to teach our kids kindness, and the sunflowers make for a nice opportunity.”
Warraba Sunflowers owner Roger Woods said he and his family had to get creative to ensure the crops grew during winter.
But Mr Woods’ final frontier will be producing sunflowers that bloom during the famous Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers.
“You’ve got to do a lot of preparation to make sure the soil is right, because you’ve got to convince them to grow,” he said.
“Sunlight and heat decreases, so you’ve got to increase other aspects like (natural) fertilisers.
“The gold standard would be to achieve a sunflower crop for the carnival, meaning the growth would need to happen during winter — it’s asking a very hard question.”
Mr Woods said a proposal in his fields was hardly surprising, given the breadth of scenarios people used the sunflowers for.
“We’ve had all sorts of things – some things you will not be able to publish, but gender reveals, proposals, all sorts of stuff,” he said.
“It’s just a very happy looking flower — people pick them and take them home, put them in water and smile at them for weeks.”
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