Sunflowers In The Niccone Valley
The Sunflower fields are out in bloom once more in the Niccone Valley. This beautiful valley has an ideal climate for growing tobacco and lots of farmhouses have small towers where the leaves were once dried. Tobacco is still grown but sunflowers are also a common crop. When I saw this one at the bottom of my hill, I couldn’t resist flying the drone across this field below our house, This video is the result!
Girasole = Turn To The Sun
Many people are under the impression that sunflowers turn towards the sun, if you ever look though, you’ll see that the mature flowers face east throughout the day. It is only immature plants that exhibit this behaviour. The Italian for sunflower, girasole, means “turn to the sun”.
Sunflowers in the Niccone Valley
Sunflowers photographed by a drone.
Jerusalem Artichokes
Sometimes you’ll see what appear to be small sunflowers growing on the edge of fields and along ditches in the Niccone Valley, these are, in fact, Jerusalem artichokes. I have heard that the “Jerusalem” is an English corruption of girasole, this may or may not be true!.