It was a simple agreement. Mark Duprey could buy the 100 acres down the road if he would grow sunflowers for his wife, Kristin Nicholas (left). Today, four years later, Kristin, Mark, and their 9-year-old daughter, Julia, grow more than 15 varieties of sunflowers in that sunny western Massachusetts field. “I’ve always loved sunflowers,” Kristin says. Besides being big, beautiful, and fuss-free, they’re super-fast growers, making them the perfect flower for impatient kids. “In the heat of summer, I swear they can grow a foot in one day,” Kristin says.

While she and Mark grow their sunflowers in a field, it’s easy to add them to smaller gardens by planting in back borders or along a fence or wall. For best results, plant in early summer, not spring. “Mark plants the seeds in June,” Kristin says. “It’s hard to wait, but they really thrive in the heat.” Mark also thins out sunflower seedlings so there’s a foot between plants to “give ’em elbow room.”

By late summer, the family is shoulder deep in a sea of sunflowers. Then, in the late afternoon, Julia and Kristin cut buckets and buckets of sunflowers and put them for sale—via the honor system—on an old hay wagon by the side of road. In the morning, the sunflowers are gone and the lockbox is brimming with change. “We never actually see anyone buy the flowers, so we call them our ‘sunflower fairies.’”