Influencers and family photo seekers alike have trampled private fields, driven cars over flowers, and caused so much damage that one farmer hired security to keep people off his property. 

So deter this all from happening, and with encouragement from county commissioners and the help of Colorado State University Extension, Jennifer Tucker, the Agricultural District Coordinator for Adams County, helped to opened a 1.78 acres at the Riverdale Regional Animal Shelter and grew a public sunflower patch. 

The 1.78-acre plot is hopefully the first of many, Tucker said. She wants public sunflower plots spread out across the county so everyone can have easy access. 

The blooms won’t last long. In a couple weeks they’ll go into a die down phase, where their giant heads, heavy with seeds, will go brown and face the ground.  Then folks managing the field will work with the Colorado Master Gardeners program to harvest the seeds and turn them into bird feed or sunflower oil. 

So in other words, instead of using the sunflower field that’s close to your house, that’s likely someone’s business, head to Brighton to get the perfect Instagram pic!