Rougham Sunflowers and Pumpkins — Local services in West Suffolk

This is a great place to catch some sunflowers, a 'maze' in the sunflowers and a pumpkin patch.

Plenty of parking, a tent for resting and kids activities, some portaloo toilets, two brilliant hay bale mounds that are climable and great fun - the little kids were having a blast clambering UK and around the broad steps. There is no charge for entry or walking around, only if you wish to take some sunflowers - then you pay per sunflower.

The estate manager was there on the day we went and was wonderfully engaging about the estate, how the sunflowers are grown and affect the land, about the pumpkin cycle and also about the christmas trees grown elsewhere.

There is also a little kiosk selling ice cream, drinks and water. They can lend out secateurs (deposit £3) to cut the sunflower stems.

The maze is quite effective and has some trails marked out with little symbols for kids to follow - for most adults it is entertaining for about 20 minutes- we really enjoyed getting up close and in one case getting lost in amongst the 10ft tall flowers.

We visited twice - the first time when the flowers were in full bloom - absolutely stunning and the second time was on the last day they were open for the season and most of the flowers had wilted. Interestingly, we visited after going to an immersive Van Gogh exhibition which featured the famous sunflower series of paintings so it was inspiring to have seen the detail in his paintings and then see the sunflowers in various states of the flowering cycle.

Highly recommended if you are in the area in the summer - apparently the sunflowers move location every season to avoid exhausting the land.

(Also worth visiting any large sunflower field in full bloom if, like me, you have a mental image of the killer sunflowers in Ring World by Larry Niven but never seen a field of...

I’ve visited Rougham Pumpkin Patch in previous years and always had a great time, but this year’s visit was quite disappointing. When we arrived, we were excited to pick our pumpkins, but unfortunately, most of the pumpkins were small and damaged, with visible marks and imperfections. There were very few healthy pumpkins to choose from, which was a letdown. It didn’t feel like the same quality experience I’ve had in the past. The only thing that made the visit somewhat enjoyable was the friendly and helpful staff. They were great as always! They did their best to assist visitors, but it didn’t quite make up for the lack of good pumpkins this season. I’m hopeful that next year will be better, as this patch has been a favorite in the past. For now, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that they get a better crop...

We went on the last day and the sunflowers were finished, we picked a few buds and small stragglers not knowing if they would open and were charged £8 for this * bouquet * . This is the reason I've given it 3 stars . I have seen pictures of it earlier in the month and it looks fantastic. Whist I know it's not their fault we visited so late I'm surprised that we were charged so much for little buds with dried leaves especially as the lady who we spoke to on the way in said it was the last day and the sunflowers were wind damaged and on the way out. I was impressed with the area in front which included hay bales, deck chairs, sand pit and picnic benches and look forward to visiting...