For those of us who live in Montgomery County Maryland, McKee Beschers Wildlife Management Area is where many photographers head for our annual summer sunflower fix. As I’ve done shows in other parts of the state, people have asked me if I’d seen the sunflower fields in Harford County. Until this week  – I hadn’t.

Based on an article in the Baltimore Sun – I finally had directions and information about when and where to find the sunflower fields near Jarrettsville, Maryland. So one morning I headed up towards Jarrettsville to see what I could find. The best way to describe what I found was a goldmine of sunflowers. I saw several large fields of sunflowers – all as large if not larger than the one at McKee Beasher WMA! I spent most of time photographing in one of the fields Jarrettsville Pike near Hess Road. It’s right across the street from the Royal Farms Store located at 3209 Jarrettsville Pike in Monkton.

As I headed towards the field, there were sunflowers as far as I could see.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

One of the wonderful discoveries I made while photographing the sunflowers was all the morning glory vines wrapped around some of the sunflower plants. I love the way the blue flowers of the morning glory contrast with the bright yellow of the sunflowers.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

As the sun rose in the sky – I found several sunflowers that I could photograph from the rear. I loved the contrast of the green leaves and the bright yellow petals  – especially as the sunlight lit up the petals.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

And finally – a pair of sunflowers – just in case you haven’t seen enough sunflowers in today’s blog post

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

So now I know two different places and times to photograph sunflowers in Maryland – McKee Beschers WMA in July and Harford County in September. Does anyone know when and where I can find other sunflower fields in the DC area? In case you haven’t figured it out by now – I love photographing sunflowers. All I have to do is think about a field full of bright yellow sunflowers – and I start to smile.