A celebration of five decades of sunflower growing was a good chance to "stop and smell the flowers", Topflite co-owner Peter Mitchell said of their open day on Sunday.
The sunflowers, grown by Rosedale Farming Company Ltd, have become an annual attraction in the district.
In 1974, the Mitchell and Webster families planted the first sunflowers at Rosedale Farm, on the corner of Thousand Acre and Springfield Rds, for their fledgling pet food company.
"We’re acknowledging over 50 years of growing bird seed in North Otago and the generational journey," Mr Mitchell said.
In some ways sunflowers were taken for granted because the family had experienced a lifetime of them, he said.
"But when you stop and smell the flowers, it actually is quite nice."
The four Topflite owners — Pete and Sandra Mitchell and Greg and Caroline Webster — had been keen on the open day for a long time. The last one was held nearly 46 years ago by Mr Mitchell’s parents, Ross and Ainslie.
"Mum and Dad did it years ago to raise money for the Weston Progress League and we chose the Stroke Foundation because Dad suffered a stroke when he was 72; he’s now 85.
"We wanted to acknowledge the good job [the foundation does] of supporting and educating others around stroke awareness, which was so helpful when Dad was going through that phase."
