THIS is the Year of the Sunflower and Bents Garden & Home at Glazebury, Warrington, is hoping to make a dramatic statement with these fantastic and easy to grow flowers by inviting local school children to take part in a sunflower growing competition.
As part of this year’s sunflower celebrations Bents’ is approaching local primary schools and providing each with seeds, pots and compost; everything required to grow an award winning flower. Schools have been asked to measure their plants and bring photographic evidence to the Centre in July when the tallest will be presented with Bents gift vouchers to spend in store.
The Year of the Sunflower is a Home Garden Association campaign designed to encourage the growth of sunflowers with home gardeners. These far from humble plants perfect for any garden: easy to grow with masses of magnificent flowers that last for weeks on end.
Their often huge and always sunny faces appeal to all ages, but there is far more to these spectacular plants than meets the eye. These summer beauties are great as a cut flowers, a magnet for pollinating insects and also help feed the birds.
Not all sunflowers are garden giants, many are compact and ideal for smaller gardens and for growing in containers. There’s also a wonderful range of colours, not just yellow. Red, orange or even white flowers can make a dramatic garden statement.
Matthew Bent, Managing Director of Bents Garden & Home said: “There are dozens of different varieties of sunflowers so perfect for any size and type of garden. We’re really getting behind the Year of the Sunflower with lots of sunflower related initiatives throughout the Centre as well as our local school’s competition.
“Look out for a sunflower treasure hunt, special plants and promotions throughout the year and I we’ll also be having our own sunflower growing competition, which, I think it’s safe to say, could get fairly competitive!”
All about sunflowers:
•Most sunflowers originate from the Americas
•The most common types are called annuals as the grow, flower and set seed in the same year
•The young, developing flowers track the daily movement of the sun, which is called heliotropism, so that the immature flowers face the sun, hence the name sunflower
•As the flowers mature, their ability to follow the sun reduces and they tend to face the east to greet the morning sun
•Sunflowers are great plants for gardens but they also make a valuable crop plant. The seeds are used to produce sunflower oil or harvested for the food and wild bird industry
•Sunflowers can be orange, pink, red, burgundy and even white in colour
The Home Gardening Association is a non-profit organisation promoting home gardening. 2015 has been designated as The Year of the Sunflower, designed to promote the use of sunflowers to home gardeners. Any school interested in taking part in Bents’ Sunflower Growing Competition please contact the Marketing Team on [email protected] or call 01942 266300.
