Did You Know North Dakota Is Home To The Most Sunflowers In The Nation?
By Tori Jane|Published March 25, 2024
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Tori Jane
Author
Tori Jane is a storm chaser, writer, photographer, and the village idiot - in that order. When she's not out and about dancing with the meanest storms on planet Earth for funsies she can be found wandering, shooting landscapes, writing, editing photos, and otherwise up to no good. Legend has it that she can also be occasionally spotted typing up short bios in the third person, but those rumors are unsubstantiated.
When people think about sunflowers, they almost always think of Kansas. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with or weird about that, of course, but there’s something a little funny about this. You see, Kansas is not the sunflower capital of the US – North Dakota is. Yup, you read that right: Sunflowers in North Dakota are kind of a big, huge deal. There are countless places to see them, and now is a great time to start planning for this natural wonder. Natural wonders in North Dakota are plentiful – come see one of the most spectacular when the time comes.
Interestingly, when it comes to sunflower seed production, Kansas isn't even in second place.
Second place belongs to South Dakota. In 2023, North Dakota produced 1.1 billion pounds of the flowers and South Dakota produced 817.2 million pounds. Incredible!
For being the one state that just about nobody comes to (seriously), we sure are full of wonders.
Namely, mid-August until early September is when it's show time. Until then, you can always plan your trip... the more plans for this year the merrier, after all.
There are about 70 species of sunflowers on this planet; common sunflowers and still sunflowers are the most prolific, though you can find other species if you know where to look. The still sunflowers are the big ones everyone's obsessed with (and for good reason).
If you're into photography, it doesn't get better than this.
One of my favorite things in the entire universe is, for some reason, abandoned places - and we've got plenty of those in the Peace Garden State, many of which enjoy a swath of sunflowers each and every year.
Some sunflower fields seem to go on forever and a day, with countless blooms and an endless blue sky providing the perfect backdrop.
Of all the wonders this state has, I think the sunflowers in North Dakota might be my all-time fave. And if you need a place to rest your head while you’re exploring North Dakota, check out all the offerings from our friends at VRBO. Where are your favorite places to see North Dakota sunflowers? Tell me about them in the comments!
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