Local Focus: Meet Pippa the sunflower seller

She's the sunflower seller frequently seen sitting on the side of a busy Hawke's Bay road. And Pippa Marffy grows her sunflowers as well.

"I planted 6000 seeds in December and staggered the planting," she said.

"They are all starting to come out now."

Business on her Havelock Rd stall in Hastings was good, but production took a hit this year, and Pippa doesn't actually know how well this year's crop will do.

"I lost a lot of sunflowers to the rabbits this year, as there are a ton of rabbits around.

"I'm actually not sure how many I've ended up with - I will know at the end of the season.

She charges $3 for a good-sized specimen. Smaller flowers are made up into bunches.

"The busy Havelock Rd is a great spot to be. It gets a lot of traffic so I am very grateful to JB [Bostock] for letting me use this spot."

"It's a good little business, just for a month or two."