Four sunflowers are peeking over the side fence. Naughty, who was first to sprout, was also the first to reach fence height in the Bull-Knox Sunflower Contest 2020. She was shortly followed by neighbouring competitors, Shmelling, Sprilbey and Wooper.
Positions to the right of the side fence seem to be the place to be with all flowers growing well. Helomi is still struggling height wise in the middle of the fence, although she appears to be healthy.
Team side fence
Four of the sunflowers along the front fence were late to the party and have some catching up to do.
Front fence squad
All competitors are enjoying the sunshine and will be hoping for more in their quest to advance skywards.
Steclaire, Buddha, Carmma and Holts finally made it to Fort Bull-Knox on Sunday. They had initially been too weak or hadn’t sprouted and organisers feared they would all make an early exit from the Bull-Knox Sunflower Contest 2020. The troubled plants were given extra time under the special care of Moomin Papa and have all made fantastic recoveries.
Two spares had been planted at the outset and, as all the original competitors have made it into the Fort Bull-Knox garden, the spares were adopted by two keen sunflower contest fans. Welcome to the contest and good luck to Dennis and Fozzy.
All of the arrivals were planted in random order along the front fence.
Meanwhile, the plants along the side fence have been growing well, with the exception of Helomi. There’s always one!
The flowers were measured on 17th May 2020 and here are the standings.
Most of the sunflowers have been transferred to the hallowed soil of Fort Bull-Knox and were planted in random order along the fence.
Side fence (left to right): Baby G, Bull-Knox, Flower, Knoxley, Moomins, Helomi, Gramps, Shmelling, Sprilbey , Naughty, Wooper
Front fence (left to right): Team USA, Bears
Take your places.
The remaining four flowers, Buddha, Carmma, Holts and Steclaire, took self isolation too far and failed to show up for the contest. In the spirit of lockdown love, they have been given a second chance and will remain under the care of Moomin Papa until they decide to join the fun. They will then be planted along the front fence if or when they are ready.
So, who’s looking good so far? I hear you cry from afar.
Gramps is looking strong.
Gramps
Flower and Knoxley are in good shape.
Flower and Knoxley
Sprilbey and Wooper are doing well.
Sprilbey and Wooper
Bears is probably the smallest of the bunch so far but baby bears often grow into big bears!
Baby Bear
The tallest flower on judging day will be crowned the winner of the Bull-Knox Sunflower Contest 2020. Those that can’t be big can still be beautiful and will be in with a chance of winning the Indie award for the prettiest sunflower.
Ricarah soars up to the sky to be hailed the tallest flower, and Daisy is named the prettiest sunflower.
The step ladders had to come out of the shed for judging day of the Bull-Knox Sunflower Contest 2019.
Ricarah was the tallest, measuring in at a whopping 266 cm. Shmelling was the next tallest at 258 cm with Gramps close behind on 257 cm.
Ricarah, Shmelling and others are yet to bloom so could get taller but it’s the height on judging day that matters!
As it was Knoxie’s birthday weekend she accepted the invitation to judge the prettiest flower to win the Indie Award 2019.
Sprilby and Moomins were close contenders but after much consideration, Daisy was declared the prettiest sunflower.
The final measurements for all the competitors are below (in centimeters) along with Knoxie’s comments in the judging of the prettiest flower:
Ricarah
266
Not out yet, late to party
Shmelling
258
Not out yet, late to party
Gramps
257
Facing the wrong way, prefers the neighbours
Bears
247
Lots of buds
Daisy
233
Pretty face, lots of buds and favoured by bees
Naughty
230
Lots of buds
Pears
225
Nice leaves and pretty face
Sprilby
222
Good face and leaves are in good nick
Helomi
215
Not out yet, late to party
Team USA
212
Has a bumble bee on, attractive to bees
Buddha
198
Not out yet, late to party
Bull-Knox
197
Bent over and a bit dead
Baby G
196
Wonky face and has been eaten by insects
Steclaire
190
Not open yet and has a bent stem
Moomins
182
Cute with lots of little buds but face is still coming out
Dennis the Menace
160
Very dead and bent over like an old man
Holts
154
Moon face
How the sunflowers grew
The relocation of the contest from the rabbity dangers of the back garden into the front garden has been a success. For the first time ever, all sunflowers survived the duration of the contest, and record heights have been achieved.
Well done to all competitors and thank you for taking part. Tune in next year for the 2020 competition.
Saturday morning thought: Isn’t it amazing how a seemingly lifeless dry seed, that’s been in a paper packet for years, suddenly reawakens when it’s put in soil and watered and becomes a living plant. Magic.
The Bull-Knox Sunflower Contest 2019 has begun. The annual competition has more twists, turns, cliff hangers and deaths than Game of Thrones as competitors race to reach the sky.
This years’ sunflowers, in no particular order, are below:
Helomi
Moomins
Sprilbey
Pears
Bears
Shmelling
Bull-Knox
Gramps
Holts
Naughty
Team USA
Buddha
Dennis the Menace
Daisy
Baby G
Steclaire
Ricarah
To avoid being eaten by rabbits the 2019 competition has been moved to the Bull-Knox front garden. Who knows what dangers will await there.