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A Windsor man says this summer surprised him with an addition to his backyard he didn’t plant — a sunflower.
David Garlick says he also didn’t expect it to grow so much. It’s now nearly 4 metres tall, though it was slightly taller before the top head got eaten.
“We think probably a squirrel planted it sometime in May,” said Garlick.
He originally thought it was weed that he’d have to remove later, but he decided to let it grow a bit to confirm.
“I staked it when it was about two feet tall and then when it got about six feet tall, we just kept watering it and that’s all we did,” said Garlick.
According to one sunflower grower in Ontario, a plant this size is not out of the ordinary. Sunflowers can grow about 4.5 metres tall.
Rain plays a factor, and Windsor-Essex was hit with a lot of rain this summer.
The sunflower that holds the Guiness World Record record for height grew to 9.17 metres.
After he posted some pictures to Facebook, Garlick said the sunflower received a name.
“We’ve been calling it Bertha for the last couple of weeks. One of my former students said you should call it Big Bertha,” said Garlick, a former school principal.
Garlick said people have been asking him to take it to the Harrow Fair, but he doesn’t think it’s a good idea.
“To do that, I’d have to kill her. I’d have to dig her up, and then I have to figure out some way of getting her to Harrow without destroying the heads.”
“So we’re going to leave her there, and she’s going to stay there until she ends up giving herself over to the squirrels and the birds,” he added.
Still strong, even after storms
Windsor-Essex was hit with multiple big storms this summer, but Bertha survived them all.
Garlick said he did have to brace the plant just a bit after the storm as it was falling a little.
“Two doors over after that big storm [last week], one of their trees fell down and our sunflower didn’t do anything,” said Garlick.
“It’s just been minding its own business,” he added.
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