Sunflower Season

     One field among many--and the sight still makes me glow. Sunflowers line a stretch of the road to Laroque d'Olmes, lining the route as you drive towards them. Now I know how the queen feels!
     Beyond the field in this shot are bales of hay, neatly and tightly rolled, golden, looking as though they've been shaken out of a packet of giant breakfast cereal.
  

Van Gogh moments

Their French name is tournesol--and right now is peak sunflower season. 

The narrow road between Léran and the main highway from Lavelanet to Mirepoix is lined with shockingly yellow rows of flowers, a huge massed chorus all turned towards the sun. The occasional seed from last summer was left behind and, in fields left fallow this year, small sunflowers sprout here and there looking rather lost and pathetic. 

  

A Late Blooming Sunflower

Several weeks ago, just to the left of a rose bush, I noticed a small seedling that looked as if it might be a sunflower so we left it alone and it grew and grew. At the weekend we got our first glimpse of its bright yellow petals and today, it's in full bloom. 

Meanwhile, around the village, the fields are crowded with brown, dry and drooping sunflowers waiting to be harvested and made into oil--including this field just across from the chateau de Léran.