Get involved!
Family and friends are welcome to join in. Measurement can be taken at any time but must be by the end of October.
Send us your final measurements and pictures!
Send your final measurements and pictures to Kelly Crane and Maisie Brighty.
Sunflowers will be judged by the tallest from the base of the stem to the top of the highest point.
Winners will receive prizes to be spent on books of your choice:
Adults:
- 1st prize – £50
- 2nd prize – £40
- 3rd prize – £30
Under 18s:
- 1st prize – £25
- 2nd prize – £20
- 3rd prize – £15
Growing Tips
Sunflowers are mainly sown from mid-April to the end of May. They are an annual plant and will flower in August.
Sunflowers like to grow in full sun in well drained soil.
- Sunflowers can be sown straight in to the ground where they are going to flower, so make sure the space you are going to sow is weed free. Can be sown in pots but they don’t like any disturbance to the tap-root.
- Rake the soil to a fine tilth (a fine crumbly texture) and make some drills 12mm deep. Leave a 10cm space between each seed.
- Place the seed in carefully and cover them up with soil. Don’t forget to water the seeds gently. As they grow, if the plants are crowded, then thin them out to about 45cm apart leaving the strongest, tallest plants.
- Be careful, as slugs and snails like to eat the new shoots. You may like to protect the seedlings by cutting the top off a plastic bottle and placing it over your seedlings.
- As your sunflower begins to grow taller than you, you will need to help support the stem, by placing a cane near the stem and loosely tying the cane to the plant with string.
- Watch your sunflower grow and grow and grow.
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