Sunflower fields of the Val d'Orcia

What it is

The Val d'Orcia is a farmed valley south of Siena, listed by UNESCO for a landscape shaped during the Renaissance. In summer the green of spring gives way to cut wheat and fields of sunflowers, grown here for seed and oil. They flower from late June through July. Farmers rotate crops, so a field that was yellow last year may be wheat this year, and part of the pleasure is finding them along the small roads between Pienza, San Quirico d'Orcia and Montalcino. Young heads turn to follow the sun. Mature ones settle facing east.

Before you go

• Go in the morning, when the flower heads face the light and the heat is still gentle.
• Fields move each year. Ask at your lodging where this year's are.
• Stay at the field edge. These are crops, and the plants are rough on bare skin.

The flowers you will see

Common sunflowerA tall annual plant grown for its large yellow flower heads and edible seedsCommon poppyThe vivid red wildflower of fields and remembrance

More in Italy

🇮🇹 Castelluccio di Norcia · May to JulThe flowering of the Castelluccio plainA high plain in the Sibillini mountains where lentil fields and their wild flowers colour the ground in bands from late May. 🇮🇹 Kastelruth · Jun to JulAlpine meadows in flower on the Seiser AlmA vast high pasture in the Dolomites, full of gentians, orchids and globeflowers before the hay is cut in July. 🇮🇹 Rome · All yearMorning flower stalls on Campo de' FioriA daily market square in central Rome whose name means field of flowers, with flower sellers at one end. 🇮🇹 Stresa · Mar to OctThe terraced garden of Isola BellaA Baroque palace garden on a small island in Lake Maggiore, built up in ten terraces like the stern of a ship.