Instagram users keep breaking in, Scott Andrews said. Photo: Supplied
A Taranaki sunflower grower has had to take security measures (of a botanical nature) to deter would-be selfie-seekers.
Scott Andrews' Huirangi Sunflower Field of 70,000 blooms is open for the public to visit, Friday to Sunday between 10am and 3pm.
However, this year he has resorted to planting a border of maize in an attempt to stop people entering the field outside of those times without permission - often to take photos for Instagram.
"We had people jumping the fence, picking them, taking photos, flying drones over them, that kind of stuff really. It is private property," he told Midday Report on Tuesday.
Huirangi Sunflower Field in Taranaki. Photo: Supplied
It was a hard start to the year for the business already, with slugs demolishing the first crop they planted back in November, he said.
"We resowed on December 1 and it's looking good, but normally we would have been open a couple of weeks ago."
To keep trespassers out, this year, he said he had planted a border of maize around the road edge - "you can't see the field now from the road, so I'm hoping it helps from people just helping themselves".
"Normally we would have been open a couple of weeks ago" - flower grower Scott Andrews