Sunflower picking in Australia: the complete guide

Sunflower season doesn't work like fruit season

Fruit picking runs for months. A sunflower paddock runs for weeks, sometimes as few as two. A field is planted to a target flowering date, and once the heads turn and start to droop, that's it for the year — there's no slow tail-off the way a strawberry patch winds down. That makes the whole picking model different. Most sunflower operations aren't full-time tourism businesses with a self-updating website; plenty are a produce farm's side project for a few weeks a year, or a flower grower's single paddock, and opening dates get announced on Facebook or Instagram once the crop is ready, since a hot spell or a dry fortnight can move the bloom by a week or two.

That's also why a farm's own website can say “closed” in the middle of what you thought was sunflower season: it usually means this year's paddock isn't ready yet, not that the farm has stopped running it for good. Check before you drive — a phone call or a look at the farm's Facebook page on the morning of your visit beats turning up to a field that's still two weeks from opening. If you're chasing other u-pick flowers in the same trip, our flower picking guide covers tulips, dahlias and lavender fields on a similar pop-up pattern, and several of the farms below run a pumpkin patch on the same land once the sunflowers are done, which our pumpkin picking page covers separately.

Sunflower bloom windows by region

Every window below is a normal-year estimate built from farm-reported dates, not a promise. A wet spring, a heatwave or a run of cool nights can shift an individual paddock's bloom by a fortnight either side of the district average, and a single farm's own field can open earlier or later than the regional pattern.

A couple of fields sit outside this pattern. Glenbernie Family Farms in Bilpin lists its own sunflower season as late summer into autumn, roughly February to April, later than most of the pack, and Sunflower Sue's on the Sunshine Coast has historically opened for a short run of weekends in early November, ahead of the main Scenic Rim bloom further south. Treat any single farm's own dates as the better guide once you've picked a region from the table above.

Photo etiquette in the field

Sunflower fields draw photographers as much as pickers, and most farms are used to it, but a few ground rules keep a paddock in good shape for the family behind you and the farmer's next season.

• Stay on the marked rows or paths. Cutting across the bed to line up a shot snaps stems that were never going to be picked and can flatten a section of the crop.
• Pay the entry or picking fee even if you're only there for photos, not flowers — most farms charge for field access, not just for stems taken home.
• Don't pull a head down by the flower itself for a close-up. Hold the stem lower down, or ask a staff member to help if a shot needs a particular angle.
• Check before a styled shoot, engagement session or commercial photography booking. Several farms need separate notice or a booking for anything beyond a normal family visit.
• Watch for bees working the heads and wear closed-toe shoes; a barefoot photo in the row is one of the more common ways visitors get stung.
• Keep an eye on kids near the edges of the paddock, since rows can hide uneven ground, irrigation lines or the odd fallen stem.

What sunflower picking costs

Pricing runs on a different model to fruit picking. Almost nobody charges by weight; instead you're paying per stem, or an entry fee that bundles in a set number of stems before extras cost more.

As a rough rule of thumb, expect $1 to $5 per stem where pricing is purely by the flower, and $5 to $22 where an entry fee bundles in a handful of stems, with family tickets common at the bigger fields. Twilight and evening sessions, like those at Shimmering Pines Farm and Glenbernie Family Farms, tend to sit at the higher end because they include extras such as snips hire, a jar or a food package. All figures here are as reported by the farms as at July 2026 and can change between seasons, so confirm current pricing when you book or before you drive out.

Where to pick sunflowers in Australia

New South Wales

The Central Coast has the thickest cluster of sunflower fields in the state. The Bloom Barn Farm at Peats Ridge grows an estimated one million sunflower plants across staggered blocks and can have something in bloom for most of the year, weather depending, while The Food Farm at Wyong Creek runs a simple honesty-box system at $1 a stem with no booking needed. Horseshoe Valley Farm & Apiary at Dooralong and The Giving Farm at Jilliby both grow sunflowers alongside other cut flowers, dahlias and zinnias among them, and the latter also runs a pick-your-own blueberry season from October. In the Hunter Valley, Hunter Valley Sunflowers near Morpeth opens for select bloom weekends between January and May, with 20 per cent of entry fees going to the Cancer Council per one source, and Little Tin Shed at Medowie, in the Port Stephens area, opens on announced days across roughly 30,000 blooms a season. Further out towards Bilpin, Glenbernie Family Farms at Kurmond runs daytime and twilight sunflower sessions, and on the South Coast, Woodstock Flower Farm near Milton and Ulladulla grows sunflowers among dahlias, zinnias and snapdragons for a small per-person charge, by booking. Closer to Sydney, Camden Valley Farm at Cawdor, a regenerative dairy farm in the Sydney Basin, has run a summer field since 2022, though its 2026 dates weren't confirmed at time of writing — check its Facebook page first.

Victoria

Girasole Yarra Valley at Wandin East, in the Yarra Valley/Dandenong Ranges district, opens Saturdays and Sundays 9am-3pm through its January-February bloom. Down on the coast, Surf Coast Sunflowers at Modewarre, in Geelong/Bellarine, run by the Modewarre Flower Collective, opens daily for around two weeks in January plus Friday and Saturday twilight sessions, and sits about 17 minutes from the region's strawberry farms if you're combining a trip. Inland, Pick Your Own Sunflowers Dunnstown, described locally as the original Victorian sunflower field, opens for a few weeks in the Ballarat district in February and March, later than most of the state, though the farm's own listing has shown as closed outside that window, so a Facebook check before visiting matters here more than most. Two other Victorian leads are worth a mention with caveats: Eden Farm Produce in the Goulburn Valley has run a January sunflower festival in past years but its 2025-2026 status wasn't confirmed, and Torello Farm on the Mornington Peninsula has previously listed a pick-your-own sunflower event alongside its year-round farm shop, again unconfirmed for the current season.

Queensland

Sunflowers On Kents at Kalbar, in the Scenic Rim south-west of Brisbane and part of the Brisbane/SEQ district, lets you cut your own five stems for a set price or buy a pre-cut bunch, with coffee on site and dogs welcome by arrangement; it's also the closest sunflower field to the city covered on our sunflower picking near Brisbane page. On the Sunshine Coast, Sunflower Sue's at Wamuran opens for a short run of weekends, historically in early November, and charges a flat entry that includes seven stems. Right on the QLD/NSW border, Farm & Co at Cudgen is technically in NSW's Tweed Shire but sits inside the Gold Coast's usual day-trip radius, and charges $4 to $5 a stem to cut your own from its working organic farm.

South Australia

Atkins Farm at Meadows, in the Adelaide Hills, is a popular, Instagram-known sunflower field that runs its picking season through January and February. Further north towards the Barossa/Clare district, Shimmering Pines Farm at Tarlee runs ticketed evening picking sessions in January and February, released through its mailing list, alongside a broader flower season running roughly September to February. The Barns of Freeling has previously run an annual charity sunflower fundraiser nearby, with proceeds going to a different charity each year, though no source confirmed a 2025 or 2026 running at time of writing, so check its Facebook page before planning a visit.

Western Australia

The South West has two short-season fields worth knowing about. Joyful Little Art Space at Boyup Brook opens on select summer days at $10 a head, cash only, and asks visitors to bring their own bucket, snips, boots and a hat. Near Harvey, Harvey Farm Barn at Cookernup runs farm tours through most of January before switching to a short pick-your-own window in the last week of the month, then reopens in April for other seasonal activities.

Planning your visit

Sunflower fields are an easy one for kids: the plants are sturdy, the rows are wide, and most farms are used to prams and little ones underfoot, though our fruit picking with kids guide has age-by-age notes if you're planning around nap times or a toddler's patience for standing in a paddock. Bring the basics from our what to bring fruit picking checklist — hat, sunscreen, water and closed-toe shoes matter as much in a flower field as an orchard, and several farms above expect you to bring your own snips or scissors rather than supplying them. Cash is worth carrying too; a good number of these are honesty-box or cash-only operations rather than card-friendly farm shops. If you're new to u-pick generally, our pick-your-own etiquette guide covers the ground rules that apply whether you're picking a flower or a fruit, and the full sunflower picking page lists every farm on this site with current season status. For the rest of the year's picking calendar, our season calendar guide is worth bookmarking.

Seasons shift with the weather. Always call the farm to confirm what's ripe and that they're open before you drive out.