Farmer surprises his wife by planting more than a million sunflowers for their 50th wedding anniversary
After 50 years of marriage, most men buy their wife a nice gold bangle or a pair of earrings for their 'golden anniversary'.
But one American farmer got a little bit creative with the brief.
To celebrate five decades since their big day, Lee Wilson planted 80 acres of sunflowers for his wife Renee.
That equates to about 1.2 million sunflowers or 15,000 sunflowers per an acre.
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"We're celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary on August 10 and you know, what's a guy get his gal on their 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 we planted her 80 acres of sunflowers," Wilson told ABC News affiliate KAKE-TV in Wichita.
Wilson and his son planted the sunflowers back in May and managed to keep it a secret from Renee until they bloomed in July.
"It made me feel very special. It couldn't have been a more perfect anniversary gift than a field of sunflowers," Renee Wilson told KAKE-TV.
The pair met in high school and began dating as soon as Renee was allowed to.
“She couldn't date until she was 16, and I called her on her 16th birthday and that's when we started dating," Lee said. "Our first date was a roller skating party, an FFA roller skating party in Harper Kansas.”
The field of sunflowers outside of Pratt, Kansas has turned into a bit of an attraction, with locals driving out to see it and take photos to post on social media.
When asked whether he would plant the sunflowers for every wedding anniversary, Lee said he would give someone else a chance to give it a go.
“Oh it's been fun but I think one time is enough for us. It's somebody else's turn next year,” he said.
With sunflower season coming to an end, the flowers will only be in bloom for another two weeks.
Keryn Donnelly