More than 4,000 Mersey schoolchildren battle it out for the biggest sunflower

More than 4,000 primary school children from across Merseyside and West Lancashire are going head to head to see who can grow the biggest sunflower.

Pupils from 25 schools are taking part in the competition with some already having planted seeds and others planning to get growing after the Easter holidays.

The sunflowers can grow to between 10 and 14 feet, more than double the height of the children themselves – and there’ll be prizes to be won for those youngsters who end up looking up in awe at the giant blooms!

The Giant Sunflower Competition was launched by Massams, a landscape, horticultural and building supplies company in Halsall, Ormskirk.

It says it wanted to encourage local children to get involved with nature, learn how to grow plants and take part in a fun and healthy competition.

Joanne Forshaw-Massam, whose parents Steve and Janet founded the business around 40 years ago, explains:

“As a family business we wanted to create something that gave back to the community while getting children excited about the outdoors.

“We’re always thinking outside the box of ways we can get more children involved because our client base is older, and so we thought we’d offer the sunflowers to local schools because they look fabulous – and they were so on trend last year with all the sunflower picking.

“I asked my son Rory, who’s seven, if he would like to do it and if his friends would like to get involved and he said they would.  So we started with local schools, and it just grew from there.”

Every participating pupil at each of the schools gets a free sunflower starter pack, which includes a pot, compost, sunflower seeds and simple growing instructions.

The idea is for each child to grow their own sunflower and take part in the competition to see who can grow the tallest plant.

Massams have now handed out 4,160 pots to schools in Southport, Ormskirk, Formby, and Liverpool. 

“We’ve hit our limit now because time’s up against us with Easter and because of the planting time too,” adds Joanne. “Some of the schools are making it lesson based and others have just given the seeds to the children.

“It will be exciting to see the kids getting involved and getting competitive.

“And we’ve got days out as prizes from Farmer Ted’s Adventure Farm, Acorn Farm, Martin Mere and the Fun Arena.

“Sunflowers are just a really bright, happy looking plant.  They’re colourful, obviously they grow to different heights – and we’ve supplied the giant ones so they’re more fun and they have massive heads. 

“It’s about the children caring for the plant too, supporting it when it grows, and what they can do afterwards, maybe taking the seeds out of the head and replanting them or giving them to the birds who love them. That’s another project in itself.”

Joanne goes on:

“Sunflowers make me feel good, and hopefully they’ll do the same for everyone taking part.

“We never imagined how many people would want to get involved and it’s great to visit our local schools and see the smiling little faces when we get there. That’s so rewarding.”

The sunflowers are expected to bloom between July and early August.

“We want to plant some positivity,” smiles Joanne, “and bring some sunshine into a sometimes horrible world.”

Find out more about Massam’s Giant Sunflower Competition here.

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