You can tell it's summer along Yolo County roads by the acres and acres of sunflower fields.

Looking like real-life Van Gogh paintings (Van Gogh painted them in vases, Mother Nature paints them in rows), the sunflower fields are nothing short of spectacular. With tousled heads rising toward the sun and golden locks nodding in the breeze, they stand their ground.

Sunflowers (Helianthus Annuus), native to North America, are one of our most recognizable flowers. They're a good food source, a designer's dream, and dugout tradition.

Earlier this year we fielded a call from a young man from southern California who wanted to know when the sunflowers would bloom in Yolo County.  He wanted to propose to his girlfriend in a sunflower field.

This is one agricultural crop that does not go unnoticed. Not by people, not by animals, not by birds, and especially not by honey bees and sunflower bees.