Giant Flowers Made From Plastic Barrels

2021 - Volume #45, Issue #2, Page #21

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A central Illinois retired grain elevator worker is doing a booming business making colorful giant sunflowers out of old 55-gal. plastic barrels. Each sunflower measures about 5 1/2 ft. in diameter.
“I can’t make them fast enough,” says Gary Smith, of Lovington. “It started off 4 years ago as just a challenge to see if I could do it. Now I have customers all over the U.S., and after making more than 500 sunflowers it has turned into a great hobby,” he says.
Smith makes and paints the sunflowers at his farm and sells them out of a shop just down the road. It takes about 1 1/2 hrs. to make one sunflower. “I try to make four or five a day,” he says.
He sometimes travels up to a couple hundred miles to get the barrels. “Most of them have been used for food grade materials,” he says.
It took him 3 weeks to make a design pattern he uses to cut the barrel up into heart-shaped sections, which form the petals. He uses a sawzall and jig saw to cut the barrel into 8 petals - 4 out of the top half of the barrel and 4 out of the bottom. “I rotate the barrel 1/8 of a turn and bolt the two halves together so they interlock. The barrel’s bottom forms the center of the sunflower. I also drill a hole through it for the customer to attach the sunflower to a post or wall,” says Smith.
He then paints the petals according to the customer’s wishes, sometimes adding polka dots to the center of the sunflower and often accenting the petal tips with a different color.
He says some of the most popular requests have been color schemes focused around popular professional sports teams and universities. They feature the team or school’s logo in the center. “Coming from a farm background, I’m also able to include tractor logos upon request,” says Smith.
Smith sells standard sunflowers for $65; $80 with an 8-ft. long, 4 by 4 wooden post. He will deliver locally.
Smith says he went through cancer treatments a couple years ago, and during his treatments he was very weak. “Several customers and friends spent evenings helping me stay caught up with my orders. It just goes to show how small towns come together when someone needs help,” he says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gary Smith, P.O. Box 26, Lovington, Ill. 61937 (ph 217 433-8260; gps1@one-eleven.net).

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Giant Flowers Made From Plastic Barrels FARM HOME recreation A central Illinois retired grain elevator worker is doing a booming business making colorful giant sunflowers out of old 55-gal plastic barrels Each sunflower measures about 5 1/2 ft in diameter “I can’t make them fast enough ” says Gary Smith of Lovington “It started off 4 years ago as just a challenge to see if I could do it Now I have customers all over the U S and after making more than 500 sunflowers it has turned into a great hobby ” he says Smith makes and paints the sunflowers at his farm and sells them out of a shop just down the road It takes about 1 1/2 hrs to make one sunflower “I try to make four or five a day ” he says He sometimes travels up to a couple hundred miles to get the barrels “Most of them have been used for food grade materials ” he says It took him 3 weeks to make a design pattern he uses to cut the barrel up into heart-shaped sections which form the petals He uses a sawzall and jig saw to cut the barrel into 8 petals - 4 out of the top half of the barrel and 4 out of the bottom “I rotate the barrel 1/8 of a turn and bolt the two halves together so they interlock The barrel’s bottom forms the center of the sunflower I also drill a hole through it for the customer to attach the sunflower to a post or wall ” says Smith He then paints the petals according to the customer’s wishes sometimes adding polka dots to the center of the sunflower and often accenting the petal tips with a different color He says some of the most popular requests have been color schemes focused around popular professional sports teams and universities They feature the team or school’s logo in the center “Coming from a farm background I’m also able to include tractor logos upon request ” says Smith Smith sells standard sunflowers for $65; $80 with an 8-ft long 4 by 4 wooden post He will deliver locally Smith says he went through cancer treatments a couple years ago and during his treatments he was very weak “Several customers and friends spent evenings helping me stay caught up with my orders It just goes to show how small towns come together when someone needs help ” he says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Gary Smith P O Box 26 Lovington Ill 61937 ph 217 433-8260; gps1@one-eleven net

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