How is your spring measuring up?

It’s well known that access to gardens and outdoor spaces is incredibly important for our physical and mental wellbeing.

That’s why Anchor’s care homes have launched a new Spring into Summer campaign to help residents get the most out of our beautiful gardens and outside spaces. 

Activities that happened across the country included al fresco dining events, flowerpot painting and residents designing and planting new flower beds.  

Our care homes went head-to-head to see which one can grow the tallest sunflower. Each home reported in on the 15 August and the one with the tallest sunflower received £150 of shopping vouchers. 

Sunflowers reach new heights

Care homes eagerly planted their sunflower seeds and spent the next few months pruning and cultivating their sunflowers. Many reached great heights and added vibrant splashes of colour to outdoor spaces. The competition was close but in the end, Blackbrook House took 1st place with a sunflower that grew to an astonishing 10ft 3 inches. 

Everyone had a great time planting their sunflowers and seeing them grow over the last few months. As we move into autumn, we'll be planning some more seasonal activities to keep everyone busy. 

How can you get involved? 

Whatever your age, growing sunflowers is great fun and we’d love you to get involved. If you think you’re the next Charlie Dimmock, share your sunflower growing efforts with us on social media using the hashtag #SpringintoSummer. 

Here are some of our tips on how to grow the tallest sunflower: 

• Choose an area that receives full sun – sunflowers need 6-8 hours of direct sunlight a day 
• Plant your seedlings directly into well-fertilised soil 
• Water your sunflowers regularly 
• Use tree stakes as support – traditional bamboo may not be able to properly support such a top-heavy plant 

Here are a few photos of the winning sunflower and others that did well.