Well the day of reckoning has arrived. Today is the day we had to see how we measured up for the Sunflower Challenge.

Growing sunflowers is one of those fantastic childhood traditions that is so satisfyingly heartwarming to pass onto children. The seeds sprout so quickly, and in those early days the seedlings almost grow in front of your eyes.

So although we won’t be winning any prizes this year, the taking part has been very worthwhile, and it was for a great cause too, supporting Compton Hospice.

We haven’t got any flowers as yet, but our tallest stem is at 125 cm.

She loves that they are now taller than her.

It’s a week since Amelie planted her sunflower seeds for the Sunflower challenge. We were away for most of last week so it was lovely to see the leaves just peeping through on our return.

Today when I took a photo, three of our six seeds have sprouted. We are hoping that some of the others come through or we have halved our chances of getting anything over 12 inches to grow. 

If there had been a (boobie) prize for the smallest sunflower produced in last years sunflower club, our bonsai specimen would surely have won.

So what makes us return for another dose of humiliation with this years challenge? Well it’s all for a good cause for one, and you can’t leave your worst in show crown for someone to come along and snatch unchallenged, can you?

So, we’re off. We planted them today, the sun was shining. That has to be a good omen I hope. We are going to nurture them and if all else fails I’ll knit me a winner.

For more sunflower inspired crafts & how to’s visit Cathy over at Nurture Store.

No laughing!

We started off really well with Nurture Stores sunflower club, we even won the seeds.

We planted the seeds.

Planting the seeds 28 March 2010

The seedlings sprouted quickly,

Seeds sprout 8 April 2010

and were very healthy specimens.

We planted them out

The suspense must be killing you – what did we get…

13 July 2010

It’s really rather pathetic isn’t it?

That isn’t the worst though, look at the ones that didn’t make it:

We do have another which is ‘about’ to bloom, I’m sure:

If it isn’t eaten alive, first.

Then as if the mocking from Nurture Store on Twitter today, about her Jack and The Beanstalk sunflowers, wasn’t bad enough. I also have this laughing at me from my neighbour’s garden. A case of here’s what you could have won, eh?

You may have noticed the lovely Sunflower Club badge over in the sidebar. We won some sunflower seeds from Nurture Store in February, and the advice given was to plant in March.  So last Sunday we had a lovely afternoon planting our seeds.

Demonstrating everything you need for sunflower planting!

Filling the pots with compost.

Making the holes.

Planting the seeds.

Watered, sheltered and eagerly awaiting green shoots.

Last week the lovely Nurturestore.co.uk were running a competition to kick start their Sunflower Club. Today I heard that we were one of the lucky ten to win a packet of sunflower seeds.

It’s hard to believe in this grim and snowy week that Spring is just around the corner, but come March we will be planting our seeds and keeping a track of their progress.

If you want to join the club visit Cathy who has this to say:

“Right through the Spring and Summer we’ll be offering lots of ideas for you to do at home to help your children have fun and learn along with us. We’ll use the sunflowers to learn about plants, animals, seasons, where food come from and how things grow, maths and science. And we’ll let the plants inspire us to be creative with art, crafts, words and songs. There’s no obligation to join in all the activities but you’re sure to find ideas your child will enjoy”.