A BURY grandfather came up with a blooming good idea to connect with his grandson during lockdown - by growing huge sunflowers in his garden.

William Yates, 72 ,had to stay inside for three months due to the ongoing pandemic, as he fell into the vulnerable category of people that needed to isolate themselves.

Using sunflowers seeds from grandson Lucas, seven, William has been able to grow sunflowers that have grown to more than nine feet tall, thrilling Lucas and neighbours alike.

Daughter Andrea said: "He has always liked doing things in his garden but he really did the sunflowers for my little boy, as he had nothing to do during lockdown.

"Lucas had been given some sunflower seeds at school so we decided to use them.

"We only live three streets away so Lucas would be able to come round and my dad would open the gates so he could see how tall the sunflowers were getting.

"He absolutely loves them. They are very impressive and he has sent all the pictures to school."

The huge sunflowers, which now pop up over William's garden fence in Hillyard Street, Elton, are taller than a standing Grizzly Bear (approx 8ft) and the current tallest man in the world (8 ft 1 in).

Standard sunflowers are usually between 6 to 10 feet in height. Depending on the variety, sunflower plants started from seed can mature in 70 to 100 days

Andrea added that she thought that "it might be cheerful to see how many people have done the same in Bury", as she asks of her father's impressive collection; "Are these Bury's biggest sunflowers?"

  • Have you been gardening or growing during lockdown? If you have any impressive creations you'd like to share, contact daniel.hopkins@nqnw.co.uk.