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Sunflower Festival in full bloom in Carbon County

The Sunflower Festival at Yenser's Tree Farm runs this weekend and next from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

LEHIGHTON, Pa. — At Yenser's Tree Farm near Lehighton, sunflowers span as far as the eye can see.

"We have thousands of blooms. We have branching sunflowers in our maze, which has a lot of variety color-wise. We have more traditional sunflowers in our pick-your-own fields. So there are plenty of sunflowers," Jan Wentz, one of the owners of Yenser's Tree Farm, said.

The third annual Sunflower Festival features food trucks, vendors, and tons of activities for the kids. People can pick sunflowers for $1 per stem. 

Wentz says July's weather stunted the growth of the plant. 

"The weather, the drought has been really difficult for us with all of our crops. Fortunately, the sunflower blooms are beautiful," Wentz said. "The plants are a little shorter than they typically would be because we just have not had enough rain."

The festival started two years ago with less than an acre of flowers. It became such a hit that it's now grown to what it is now, tens of thousands of blooms and acres of flowers.

"To me, they just mean life, and you know there's a lot of stuff going on right now in the world that doesn't make you feel happy, but when I see or think of a sunflower, it's gotta bring a smile to your face," Lisa Guernsey, of Paxtonville said. 

The hot weather didn't stop dozens of people from coming out and enjoying the flowers' beauty.

"I love sunflowers; they're beautiful. I love the different colors and the sizes of them. My best friend and I like to twin our granddaughters and bring them out. So we brought them in our sunflower outfits for photo opportunities," Heather Dougherty of Effort said.

The Sunflower Festival at Yenser's Tree Farm runs this weekend and next from 11 in the morning to 6 in the evening.

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