[Kohlsdorf] In late summer, Lincoln Highway travelers will find fields of golden sunflowers to explore at Pheasant Run Farm just outside Belle Plaine.

Let's take a look.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Parallel to Highway 30 in Benton County among the fields of corn and beans, Eric and Ann Franzenburg have planted a colorful oasis.

These plentiful blooms reach their peak in August and September, drawing road trippers from near and far.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Eric, we're here at Pheasant Run Farm along the beautiful flowers, the flower beds that you have here.

You started off as a traditional farmer, corn and beans.

What made you want to expand to this?

[Eric Franzenburg] We really decided when we got started farming that we wanted to diversify the farm.

And so, we were just looking at different options for that.

And one of the first options that we looked at was doing a cut flower business where we could raise our own flowers, cut them and then provide them to florists and farmer's markets.

[Kohlsdorf] So, Eric, you started by selling the flowers, but now you bring the people here to the farm, right?

Why?

[Eric Franzenburg] We spent a lot of our time on the farm, but we don't spend enough time visiting with other people.

We want to invite people out to the farm to enjoy the flowers out here, especially to look at sunflowers.

That seems to be the one flower that really people just love to look at.

At the farmer's markets they love to buy them there.

Even a lot of our customers at the farmer's markets will come out here to actually cut their own bouquet rather than just picking it up and making a bouquet at the farmer's market.

They'll come out here and make their bouquet here.

And it's been growing for the last three years.

[Kohlsdorf] So, Eric, it sounds like the sunflowers are the main attraction here.

Can we take a look?

[Eric Franzenburg] Absolutely, Brooke, I'll show you the way.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Pheasant Run's sunflower experience gives visitors the chance to cultivate lasting memories and plenty of photo worthy moments between the towering rows of yellow flowers.

[Eric Franzenburg] Well, Brooke, this is one of our most favorite photo ops here where people can actually go out into the sunflowers and be really close to them and then have someone, a friend or a relative, take a picture of them right in the middle of the sunflowers.

[Kohlsdorf] I imagine that's part of the appeal is just all of the photo opportunities out here, right?

[Eric Franzenburg] Yeah, that's really the main appeal here and that's the main reason why we do it.

[Kohlsdorf] Tell us a little bit about the growing process for sunflower fields because I imagine this is a little different than corn and beans, right?

[Eric Franzenburg] There's a lot of similarities.

We plant it by seed.

We use similar equipment to plant.

They grow out in the Dakotas where it's very dry and warm.

Here where we have plenty of rainfall and sunlight and we still have plenty of heat, they grow really well here as well.

We planted about five acres of them the first year and just in a matter of two months you have plants that are taller than your head and blooming.

[Kohlsdorf] It seems like you're creating lots of joy, lots of joyful experiences.

[Eric Franzenburg] This is our favorite time of year because people come out and they're excited about coming out to see the sunflowers.

And when they leave, they all have smiles on their faces.

[Kohlsdorf] I love it.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] So, the guests who come out get to cut a sunflower.

Is that right?

[Eric Franzenburg] That's right, Brooke.

It's all part of the sunflower experience.

So, I want to show you how to do that.

So, here's a good looking flower right here, Brooke.

And what we do is cut the flower at an angle and we take all of the leaves off so the flower will last longer in your vase when you get it home and it's ready to go.

[Kohlsdorf] This is beautiful.

[Kohlsdorf] Just beyond the sunflowers lies another vibrant attraction to explore, the cutting garden.

[Ann Franzenburg] You can see we've got 30 varieties, approximately 30 varieties of flowers out here that people can grow.

And I think people are always interested to know that these are all annuals and so we have to start this garden from scratch every year.

[Kohlsdorf] It's a lot of work.

[Ann Franzenburg] It is a lot of work, but it also provides a lot of joy for people.

And it is fun for us to do too.

Would you like to try cutting a bouquet?

[Kohlsdorf] I would love to.

[Ann Franzenburg] All right, so when we cut flowers, people often wonder what are the rules?

And I always say, you should cut what makes you happy.

That's the rule.

When you're cutting any cut flower, you want to reach down and cut about an arm's length.

Cut at a vertical angle.

And you're going to want to strip the leaves off.

You want to get rid of those leaves because we've cut the root system off, so the flower has to put all of its power into staying hydrated and you want that to go into the bloom instead of the leaves.

When you're cutting a zinnia, you want to make sure that the stem feels firm.

Then it's ready to cut.

If it's flexible, it will wilt.

So, just kind of grab right below the bloom of the zinnia and kind of wiggle it between your fingers.

And this feels pretty firm, you can see it's pretty rigid.

So, you're going to just reach down and, again, try to cut above a set of leaves, cut at an angle and then we're just going to strip all of these leaves off.

♪♪ [Ann Franzenburg] Long, nice long stem.

Yep.

And then just strip away.

There you go.

♪♪ [Ann Franzenburg] Perfect.

[Kohlsdorf] We're getting a bouquet.

[Ann Franzenburg] We are.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Oh, these white ones, what are these called?

[Ann Franzenburg] These are all zinnias over here.

[Kohlsdorf] All zinnias, okay.

Do I have to feel these?

Yeah.

Okay.

♪♪ [Ann Franzenburg] There we go.

Yeah.

[Kohlsdorf] Oh yeah.

I'm going to put my last few flowers in here to finish off the bouquet.

What do you think, Ann?

[Ann Franzenburg] I think it looks beautiful, Brooke.

You're a pro!

[Kohlsdorf] Who knew?