A blooming success

A seed of an idea sown by Debbie Brownlie, one of our Supported Housing Officers, saw the gardening glove well and truly thrown down when she challenged our Retirement Living communities to grow the tallest sunflower Care Plus had ever seen.

Each community was given eight sunflower seeds to plant, nurture and grow in the hope of taking the title of “Sunflower Supremo”

Over the summer months the seeds were lovingly tended, with much secrecy surrounding  the various (and it has to be said slightly whacky) methods of “encouragement” used in the fight to take the title of champion grower.

At the end of August, with tapes at the ready, residents and staff got the measure of the sunflowers that had been grown across our Retirement Living communities.

With the sky being the limit (quite literally in some cases), our tallest sunflower came in at an enormous nine feet and ten inches and was grown at Naden House in Huntington. Coming a close second Vine Court in Cannock were late bloomers with a sunflower that measured a whopping nine feet and seven inches.

The winners will receive an engraved trophy shortly.

Due to the success of the competition, it has been decided that it will now become a hardy annual event.