Sunflowers at Dorothea Dix to be harvested for Raleigh's biodiesel supply

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- It's time to say goodbye to the immensely popular sea of sunflowers at Raleigh's Dorothea Dix Park.

The good news, the five acres of beautiful blooms will be put to good use.

Hundreds of people came out to see the field of bright golden stems all summer, taking selfies and family photos then posting them on social media.

The city of Raleigh will harvest the flowers on Thursday and use them for its biodiesel supply.

"We're going to take these crops, take them back to our recovery facility and strip the seeds out, turn that into biodiesel," explained Ed Buchan with Raleigh Public Utilities. "And we use that fuel to fuel all of our farm equipment like this one behind me. So, we really feel like this is a great sustainability effort on the city's part."

Didn't get to see the sunflowers this year? Don't worry, they'll be back next year!