What better way to support ‘Environment Week’ during lockdown than with a good old-fashioned competition – “Who can grow the tallest Sunflower?”

Back in March, sunflower seeds and instructions were posted out to the team at Oracle along with our clients and the task was who could grow the tallest sunflower.

The competition is well underway and there are some clear contenders for the winning voucher. Sunflowers are being grown across the country; we even have two budding gardeners aged 2 who have been helping with the watering.

With final measuring day later this month, there is still time to feed and nurture the flowers to their maximum height! You never know one could make the Guinness book of world records!

Some interesting facts about Sunflowers, who would have known?

• Sunflowers attract bees, making them useful in areas where people are beekeeping and looking to attract more bees
• At the bud stage, sunflowers exhibit a unique trait called heliotropism, with which the bud of the sunflower faces the sun at all times throughout the day, starting the day facing east and ending it facing west
• Not all sunflower petals are yellow. There are more than 60 varieties of sunflowers that live around the world—some of these varieties have striped petals.
• The French word for sunflower is tournesol, which translates literally to “turned sun” referring to the plant’s ability to turn itself to face the sun
• The sunflower is the only flower with the word “flower” in its name
• The tallest sunflower measured 9.17 m (30 ft 1 in) and was grown by Hans-Peter Schiffer (Germany) in Karst, Nordrhein Westfalen, Germany, as verified on 28 August 2014.