GARLIC was bounced around by friends as a cash crop for Deniliquin resident, Kylie Davis.
She has a water license and wanted to utilise it.
But after a tipple or two of a locally grown red, Ms Davis decided on sunflowers to brighten her garden just 3.5 kilometres from town.
She admits her handle on IT is not the best, which explains some crooked rows from hand-sowing 0.2 hectares or half-an-acre with assistance of GPS, to the delight of her children who take every opportunity to point that out to visitors.
But the exercise has turned out to be the best town and region promotion since the Deni Ute Muster.
"A friend started up a facebook page and the kids instigated Instagram, and the garden's popularity just took off," Ms Davis said.
Bikers, grey nomads, even models from the big smoke have come from near and as far as Melbourne to be photographed in front of the crop, especially at sunset.
"People came from everywhere and the region was buzzing right up to and through Christmas until New Year's Eve and disaster," she said.
"There was a mass exodus when Victoria closed its border and the area became desolate."
However, that didn't stop people from NSW being attracted to the yellow mass and they continue to arrive.
"A group of bikers on a trip called in for a photo snap just this afternoon. The garden has brought some wonderful cheer to so many people.
"So, I now need to come up with a new idea to keep attracting people to our town and region."
What will this accidental tourism promoter and her children do to top this off?
Raised at Echuca, Ms Davis moved from a marketing background into the funeral industry and trained as a mortician, a job held for 15 years before jumping into the advertising sale industry with the Deniliquin Pastoral Times with which she has worked in two stints, first for five years, then returned after a break and has been on deck for te past three years.
"It's been a wonderful experience, something I didn't envisage when planting the sunflower seeds," she said.
"But it's all about locals backing their town and region and attracting people to come and enjoy the local experience and hospitality.
"We'll welcome all to our neck of the woods."
