The tallest sunflower? Does Navan take the title away from Mullingar? Wait, Kilkenny wants in on this!
Aine Keating Molloy sent our sister paper, the Westmeath Examiner, these pictures of 9ft tall (excluding the pot!) sunflowers in Mullingar.
Grown by her parents Tommy and Anne Keating, Aine says her daughter Éabha and the rest of the grandkids love standing beside them at each visit to their grandparents home in Gainstown, just to see how much they have grown.
"My parents are very keen gardeners, they spend most of their free time pottering around outside," says Aine.
"It’s looking extra colourful this year following lockdown. My Dad grows lots of veg as well, keeping us all supplied with fresh produce."
However it seems that keen Navan gardener Scott Coyle from Silverlawns can give the Mullingar couple a run for their money having grown a sunflower an unbelievable 2.97 metres or almost 10 feet tall!
Scott says his passion for gardening was ignited while working in a garden centre in Navan.
“I planted the seeds sometime in March and I just left them in the porch for a couple of months and then just planted them out the back.
“One of them has grown to 2.97 metres, nearly ten feet tall, I’m delighted but the year before last I had one that got to twelve foot!
“I’ve never entered any competitions for them, it is just a hobby, I have a huge interest in gardening, I used to work in Homebase in the town.”
Scott says the secret to growing prize winning sunflowers is all about the care you give them.
“They just need patience and care, if you want to grow it tall you either need to put it into a pot or into the ground.”
But that was before Martin and Margaret Byrne sent us on a snap of their mighty front garden sunflower in Gowran Co. Kilkenny. According to Martin this specimen is 10ft 2".
Back to the Royal County and Lisa Sheridan sent us this - Larry and Lena Murray from Griffin Park, Trim with their grandson Luke Murray and their gaint sunflower. Lisa says: "It;s starting to bend down now at the top with the weight but it was 10ft 9"
We can't verify these heights of course but it looks like Trim, and the Murrays, are our clubhouse leaders.