Glastonbury, Euro 2020, Wimbledon and the Olympics may be cancelled but the Bull-Knox Sunflower Contest 2020 is on!
The aim of the game is simple: Be tall, and if you can’t be tall be pretty!
Previous contests have seen sunflowers destroyed by snails, rabbits, and strong winds. Threats of sabotage have been made. Plastic flowers have been planted in an attempt to trick the judges. And a tomato plant even joined the line up in 2019!
2020 brings an additional challenge. Will the sunflowers survive the coronavirus pandemic?
The Moomins took on the duty of planting the seeds from the safety of their garden while in self isolation.
Competitors ready!
The competitors, in alphabetical order, are listed below:
Baby G
Bears
Buddha
Bull-Knox
Carmma
Flower
Gramps
Helomi
Holts
Knoxley
Moomins
Naughty
Pears
Shmelling
Sprilby
Steclaire
Team USA
Good luck to all the competitors and keep safe all. May the odds be ever in your favour.
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.
The competitors in the Bull-Knox Sunflower Contest 2019 have left the safety of the Moomins’ garden and entered Fort Bull-Knox.
The sunflowers are welcomed to Fort Bull-KnoxSprilbey was the first to go in the groundSidies
Contestants along the side fence and their current height:
Steclaire, 11 cm
Sprilbey, 25 cm
Bull-Knox, 35 cm
Pears, 26 cm
Moomins, 25 cm
Gramps, 31cm
Ricarah, 30 cm
Team USA, 31 cm
Bears, 32 cm
Holts, 24 cm
Contestants along the front fence and their current height:
Helomi, 9 cm
Buddha, 7 cm
Shmelling, 31 cm
Daisy, 29 cm
Baby G, 35 cm
Dennis the Menace, 24 cm
Naughty, 23 cm
Fronties
Baby G and Bull-Knox (ahem) are out in front at the moment, both at 35 cm. Bears are close behind at 32 cm and Shmelling, Team USA, and Gramps are hot on their heels at 31 cm.
Steclaire, Helomi, and Buddha were late sprouters and have some catching up to do.
As Knoxie’s birthday barbeque is taking a fallow year, the judging date for the competition is to be confirmed.
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.
The judging of the Bull-Knox Sunflower Contest 2018 took place on Saturday 28th July at Knoxie’s zoo themed birthday barbecue.
Party animals
The biggest sunflowers were measured and Bulls, measuring in at 111 cm, was crowned the tallest. Bulls also won the first Bull-Knox Sunflower Contest in 2014. They were delighted to regain the title and take home another cheap, plastic, solar-powered, dancing sunflower.
Bulls aim high
Despite none of the sunflowers blooming in time for the judging, Knoxie’s Uncle Mick was able to use his super-sensory, cheetah skills to determine Naughty as the prettiest flower and winner of the Indie Award.
Naughty but nice
Holts, who had failed to appear throughout the whole contest, made a slightly suspicious late appearance on the judging day. However, at just 50 cm it was still the shortest of the bunch.
Better late than never
The final standings for the Bull-Knox Sunflower Contest 2018 are below:
Bulls – 111 cm
Naughty – 95 cm
Bull-Knox – 92 cm
Sparkly – 88 cm
Team USA – 87 cm
Gramps – 84 cm
Shmelling – 83 cm
Helomi – 83 cm
Bears – 82 cm
Sprilbey – 75 cm
Buddha – 68 cm
Pears – 52 cm
Holts – 50 cm
Well done to all competitors, you’re all winners in my eyes!
Jojo Debrazza 