Cicadas and grasshoppers incessantly chirped while families filed in for the first annual sunflower festival, hosted by the Summer’s family on Butterfly Lane.

The mid-morning sun kissed the tips of the honey yellow flowers as the light wind helped them groove to the insect’s tune.

A young girl in a cherry red jersey dress is gripping her dainty sunflower. She inspects its glowing halo and rigged florets before abruptly tossing it to the ground and running off to a bale of hay. Her mother sucks in sharply before calling after her.

Down the hill and away from the field of parked cars is where the main attractions on the farm lay. A petting zoo, pumpkin patch, corn maze, tractor rides, gift shop, lounge/craft beer stand, and a makeshift outdoor concert venue.

Most of which remain unattended.
The only attractions open at this time are the craft beer stand and the sunflower field.

Two women in maxi dresses, one in green, another white, approach a staff member, who couldn’t be older than 16, about the lack of open events.

The one in green spoke, her coral blue surgical mask hanging off her right ear, “I mean we paid $15 dollars....is there anything else?”

The teen hesitated cheerfully, “I don’t think so, I can ask though.”

She grabs her walkie pacing in place. Relying the question into the device, the farm lights up with static. If it weren’t for the staff’s fluorescent orange shirts, the static buzz from the walkie talkies would distinguish them from the guests.

The farm lights up with static as she relays the question off to her fellow staff members.

Within seconds there’s a reply: “Not ‘till 12 p.m.”

Still an hour and a half out.

The teen regurgitates the answer to the two women. The woman in green smiles blankly at the teen and reluctantly thanks her before walking off with her friend towards the sunflower field.

The teen heads back to her post, behind the ticket stand, where a long line of guests await her. Scattered throughout the farm are three large cabins: straight ahead is for ticket entry, adjacent to that is for supplies, and to the far left is the main office — that’s where Teresa Summer’s,

Summerland Farms Event Coordinator, third generation farmer, and eldest daughter of the owners, Clarke and Linda Summers, spends most of her down time.

Today wasn’t one of those days.

She burst through the cabin doors wearing Sketchers, denim shorts, and an orange fluorescent tee decaled with the Summerland Farm logo.

Her eyes smile courteously behind her mask, “Hello, hello, as you can tell we’re very busy today.” She draws out her ‘O’s and has a tendency to talk in upspeak with a country twist.

Just then, the static was back.

The walkie.

It’s a man’s voice this time, “the printer’s having problems.”

“Printer, printer, printer...” Teresa mumbled to herself, before answering.

“Got it.” She apologized profusely, before racing towards the ticket stand.

While the country may be in the middle of a pandemic, this was just another start of the fall season at the Summer’s family farm.

About 30 minutes passes. It’s afternoon now. The line dies down, the rest of the attractions open up, and Teresa can finally breathe.

If just for a moment. “Where were we?”

She collects herself, sitting at one of the benches under the old wooden pergola racking through her thoughts.

“So yes, this is our first ever sunflower festival.” She smiles warmly, occasionally looking out at the field of guests.

She’s still keeping watch.

“I was doing some research and found that sunflower fields were growing in popularity all over the county. So, it made sense to look into it and see if it is more, and after some thinking I decided that would be a good event to add onto the events that we already have going on,” Summer’s said.

Executing this event would take many months, which is why they started planting the sunflowers in late April. While COVID-19 was still in its infancy in the United States, raising panic across

the country. Teresa, and her 24 staff members came out every five days to plant 35 varieties of sunflowers. Still optimistic about the lifted stay out home order implemented by Gov. Larry Hogan back in late March.

She points out towards the field of sunflowers, “we had to plant them every five days to make sure they were staggered and bloomed for the three weeks that we operate” Summer’s added.

Of the 35 varieties of sunflowers, the Sun Rich Series, the Red Sun Sunflower, and the Teddy Bears are the three favorites among guests.

First up, the sunny summer Sun Rich Series. This pollenless sunflower standing at 4-5 feet. Perfect for your little ones to poke, pull, pluck, and play with all day.

Summer’s say’s this is a family favorite, “well they’re nice average size even for the little ones, and the parents love to go out and take pictures in the field with ‘em sitting in the field or posed up hugging one, we see stuff like that a lot.”

The Sun Rich Series is also made up of a variety or sub-categories such as: Gold, Orange, Orange Summer, Lemon, Lime, and Limoncello Summer. Guests top pick from this bunch are the golds. That’s because it’s considered the standard sunflower.

“Of course, people just want the true yellow sunflower, so a lot of people that came out just for flowers, this is what they wanted.”

Next, the Red Sun Sunflower, also known as the Moulin Rouge Sunflower. Stocky in shape, this rusted red ringed flower is ready for fall. Its color closely resembles that of a red giant star in its second phase of life. Only hints of yellow surrounding its disk florets remind you of its previous color. This pollinating plant is also prone to attracting bees, butterflies, and birds.

Last but not least the Teddy Bears.

This plant is small, but mighty, standing at just 2 to 3 feet tall, the Teddy Bear is considered a dwarf sunflower. Unlike its other popular pals, this sunflower’s florets closely resemble that of a lion’s mane. Its halo is its crown, which makes it a perfect fit within the top three sunflowers.

More guests file in, some wearing masks, others begrudgingly put theirs on after being told. Many farms across the country struggle with this decision: to open, or not to open?

Teresa believes that by following Gov. Larry Hogan’s guidelines, they made the best decision to reopen. Not only for her family’s farm, but for the Frederick community.

“There’s a reason why we’re open,” she laughs, waving her hands gesturing towards the entirety of the farm.

“We have to be able to survive.”