- Replanting Barbara and Agnes
- The terrible scene on 10 June
- Poor Old Barbara on 24 July
- Biny up close and personal. Could this be the start of a flower?
- Beautiful smiling Biny, though not the tallest, she flowered first
We have a winning sunflower!
Summer arrived in May and we decided it was time for some fun. The office allotment (fire escape) is a riot of colour with geraniums, daisies and pansies which Lee lovingly waters. Although the allotment is really tiny (smaller even than Mr Mcgregor's potting shed) it gets plenty of sunshine in the mornings, and we think it's crying out for some big smiley sunflowers. None of us has grown a sunflower for at least 15 years, so the challenge is on. We've each chosen a seed and a pot, and planted them in the same peat-free soil (fair's fair). Each of our seeds is named after our grannies too: Barbara, Agnes, Marjorie, Beryl, Biny and Grace.
The rules are as follows:
1. The sunflowers must be grown without any magic growing solutions or chemical nasties.
2. We can water our own plant as often or as little as we like.
3. No sabotaging other people's plants.
4. A plea to others: please don't nick our plants!!
We're keeping a Sunflower Diary below so you can see exactly what happens when.
Do your children have any brilliant sunflower-growing tips for us? We'd love to hear from you - email us your green fingered secrets (but don't tell the rest of the team).
THE SUNFLOWER DIARY
14 May 2008: Barbara, Agnes, Marjorie, Beryl, Biny and Grace are planted.
- Barbara, Agnes, Marjorie, Beryl, Biny and Grace
15 May 2008: It stops being sunny and starts to rain.
22 May 2008: AGNES, BARBARA AND GRACE SPROUT!!
23 May 2008: Biny sprouts too!
28 May 2008: Marjorie and Beryl are replanted as they weren't sprouting, and Barbara gets a new pot after a downpour leaves her original coffee cup a bit too soggy.
2 June 2008: Marjorie and Beryl are back in the game!
6 June 2008: Agnes and Barbara outgrow their coffee cups and are repotted in bigger pots
9 June 2008: Barbara is repotted yet AGAIN into a bigger pot. She clearly has a pushy parent...
10 June 2008: Disaster strikes - a clumsy hand somehow knocks Barbara on TOP of Grace!? The carnage has to be seen to be believed. Grace snaps in half, and all Barbara's soil falls out so she has to be repotted for a 4th time.
11 June 2008: As Grace is just a stalk and Barbara has wilted, the decision is taken to replant. New Grace and New Barbara are planted. This puts Agnes in the lead at 25cm, closely followed by Biny at 24cm.
19 June 2008: New Barbara and New Grace have sprouted, and New Grace has a visit from a local blackbird.
24 June 2008: Marjorie gets replanted out of her coffee cup into a recycled baked potato box.
8 July 2008: Agnes and Biny are thrashing it out for 1st place, and now Biny, Beryl and Marjorie all have canes to help them power on up...
22 July 2008: Agnes is reaching for the sky at 116cm, and New Grace is the littlest at a dainty 68cm. No sign of any flowers yet but Summer is forecast to start on Thursday so we're hopeful.
24 July 2008: More drama!! A gust of wind sends Old Barbara swooping down the fire escape stairs and out of her pot. She is hastily replanted and given her own sheltered spot away from the stress of her fellow competitors.
4 August 2008: The Sunflowers' friends, the Tomatoes, are growing into Beryl's personal space. After debate, it is decided that they can stay as long as they don't block out too much of her sun.
12 August 2008: After a night of hammering rain, Agnes and Biny are still the leaders, with Agnes at 161cm and Biny at 146cm. No-one is showing any sign of flowering, although Biny, Beryl, New Grace and Agnes look really interesting up close (see photo on the left).
29 August 2008: Things are seriously hotting up. Agnes is towering up to the sky at a whopping 1m 92cm (taller than anyone in the office), but Biny has turned to face the sun and there are definitely some wispy yellow petals curled up in her head. We're leaving the office on Friday for the weekend with high hopes for Monday morning...
1 September 2008: We have a winner!! Agnes is crowned Queen of the Sunflowers for being the tallest at the end of August, at a stunning 7 foot tall! However Biny is awarded second prize for being the prettiest.
18 September 2008: All the Sunflower Grannies are in full bloom looking beautiful. A rare few minutes of September sun shows them in all their glory below.
- Beautiful Biny, Marjorie, Queen Agnes at 7 foot tall, New Grace, Beryl, Old Barbara who survived all the drama to flower second, and New Barbara