Sunflowers, sunflowers, sunflowers. Everywhere I look these sunshine-yellow blooms are surround me, facing toward the sun already setting in the horizon. If your favorite flowers are sunflowers like me, the experience walking in a sea of sunflowers is bliss.
One of our stops in our South Cotabato trip after we had a heritage experience with the Blaan indigenous people was Mariano’s Blooming Petals. Also known as Mariano’s Blooming Agri-Tourism Park, this park, I later learned, has 15,000 sunflowers in perfect rows at any given time. It is indeed a sea of sunflowers.
My first time walking through a sea of sunflowers
It is indeed a sea of sunflowers. All photos with Mariano’s watermarks are courtesy of Mariano’s Blooming Petals
The park does not just have sunflowers, though. Outside the sunflower rows is a giant mandala of marigolds. Some of the marigolds and cosmos also form flower shapes when seen from afar, like flowers in a flower. I learned from Mariano’s that they change the patterns of flowers from time to time. In February, for example, they have blooms in heart mandalas.
Marigolds in a mandala during our visit
Mariano’s Blooming Petals usually has a giant flower mandala and other interesting patterns.
Bright cosmos up close
Dwarf dianthus, a carnation variety
Mariano’s Blooming Agri-Tourism Park covers a huge 13 hectares. Flowers occupy 1.5 hectares. The rest of the park houses a bird sanctuary, a farmer’s market, and a café.
As our time was short in the park, we only explored the flower park. We also had a hearty meal at Mirasol Cafe, the park’s restaurant.
I loved this fresh salad topped with ternate, or butterfly pea flower.
We were not able to visit these areas, but Mariano’s was kind enough to share more photos.
A peacock at the park’s bird sanctuary
Fresh produce at the farmer’s market. Mariano’s is also about agriculture for food, not just flowers.
My favorite part at Mariano’s Blooming Agri-Tourism Park, is of course, still the sunflowers.
Sunflowers all looking toward the sun
Golden hour at sunrise or sunset seems to be a perfect time to go to Mariano’s. I would go back around this time if I could.
I would recommend at least two hours in Mariano’s Blooming Petals only for exploring. Allot another hour just for eating, as they have quite a spread of food choices. My favorite is the fresh salad with the ternate and the chicken binakol served in a coconut.
Enjoy your visit!
Important information:
Entrance fee: P50 for weekdays, P70 for weekends
Hours: Weekdays at 7 am to 530 pm, weekends at 7 am to 6 pm
How to get there:
Take a flight to General Santos City. From the airport, you can already ride a bus to Marbel, but ask the conductor first if they are stopping by Tupi. Alternatively, you can head over to Bulaong Terminal first then ride a Tupi-bound bus or van from there. Once in Tupi, ride a tricycle to Mariano’s Blooming Agri-Tourism Park.
Contact details:
Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/bloomingagritourismparkofficial/
Contact numbers – +639972042560 for the park in general, +639105470020 for Mirasol Cafe
Traveling Light 
The mandala is so cool!