Men enjoy giving flowers to their loved ones, but this farmer from Pratt, Kansas decided to make his gift extra special to mark a momentous occasion.
Farmer Lee Wilson planted a different crop this season to commemorate 50 years of marriage to his wife Lee. Instead of a bouquet of flowers, he presented her with an extravagant floral gift – an enormous sunflower field!
Lee shared that he carefully reflected on a meaningful anniversary gift for his wife, and said, “Well we’re celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary August 10th and you know what’s a guy get his gal for the 50th? And I put a lot of thought into it and she always liked sunflowers. And I thought this is the year to plant sunflowers so I planted her 80 acres of sunflowers.”
Knowing how much his wife loved sunflowers, Lee decided to go all out for his wedding anniversary surprise. Around how many flowers would fit on 80 acres of land? “There’s about 1.2 million sunflowers in this field,” Lee said.
That would amount to around 15,000 flowers per acre! With his son’s help, Lee secretly planted the sunflower field in May, and tried his best to make sure that Renee wouldn’t find out.
But you can’t keep a colossal sunflower field a secret forever and the dramatic gesture certainly touched Renee. She was just overwhelmed with joy when the sunflowers bloomed.
She said, “It made me feel very special. It couldn’t have been a more perfect anniversary gift than a field of sunflowers.”
The sunflower field is undoubtedly appropriate in Kansas, since the sunflower is the official state flower.
This is definitely a heartwarming gift of love for a couple whose relationship began in their teens. It was love at first sight for the romantic pair, and they have been together for most of their lives.
Lee said, “We met in high school. She couldn’t date until she was 16, and I called her on her 16th birthday and that’s when we started dating.”
He added, “Our first date was a roller skating party, an FFA roller skating party in Harper, Kansas.”
The new Pratt sunflower field is a sight to see and has drawn in people from all over Kansas. Visitors come to take pictures and experience the magic of a whole sunflower field in full bloom. The gesture is reminiscent of another farmer’s tribute to his wife.
Despite the attention and interest generated by the sunflower field, Lee doesn’t intend to make it an annual event. He said, “Oh it’s been fun but I think one time is enough for us. It’s somebody else’s turn next year.”
The impressive sunflower field, however, is more than enough proof that love still blossoms for this Kansas couple.
Some couples would be more than happy to have nice gold earrings, a bracelet, or other jewelry to celebrate their golden anniversary. But Lee was certainly more creative in crafting a memorable gift for their anniversary.
Sightseers will have to quickly make a trip to catch the floral wonder though, since the sunflower season is quite short and lasts about 10 to 14 days. Crowds have been flocking to see and take photos of the stunning sunflowers.
The sunflower field, which looks like a rolling carpet of yellow, can be seen four miles east of Pratt on the south side of Highway 54.
In a similar story in 2018, farmer Winston Howes turned the meadow in his home into a heart-shaped forest. Winston made the heartwarming transformation to honor his late wife Janet, with whom he had shared three decades of marriage.
To cope with his grief, he built the heart-shaped forest in the meadow that his wife loved. It became a place where he and his son could visit, particularly in difficult times. Visible only from the air, the secret forest is just a very personal and moving homage to the love Winston had for his late wife.
