'Sunflower whisperer' raises spirits in care home

Guy Tyers says his sunflower was "head-and-shoulders the tallest one in the competition", being almost double the size of others

A care home worker has been dubbed the "sunflower whisperer" for talking to his plants every day.

Guy Tyers, 56, from March, Cambridgeshire, even won an prize for growing a 3.2-metre (10.5ft) sunflower, which has since shot up to 3.6m (11.8ft).

Depending on the variety, the RHS says the plants can reach heights up to 4m (13ft).

Mr Tyers, a maintenance man at a Fair Haven Care Home in Soham, said he had been growing sunflowers since he "was a nipper", but this was his biggest to date.

Guy Tyers with his towering 3.6-metre (11.8ft) sunflower. His secret - talking to the plant, to "gee it up to reach the heights"

"My work colleagues think I am a bit crackers," said Mr Tyers.

"Every morning when I get in to work I just have a few quiet words with my sunflower, things like 'pull your finger out' and 'come on reach them heights'", he said.

Fair Haven residents planted sunflower seeds in the spring and Mr Tyers was responsible for planting out the blooms and looking after them from June.

His tallest bloom recently won a contest between 60 care homes across the East, held by an agency called Nurse Plus, with judging taking place between late August and early September.

One of the care home residents, 82-year-old Ann Holmes, originally sowed the seed for the tallest sunflower.

Mr Tyers says that he spoke to his sunflower whenever he could, giving it words of encouragement which he says seemed to do the trick

Care home resident Ann Holmes sowed the seed of the biggest sunflower produced this year

Mr Tyers said his parents gave him his love of growing sunflowers and he had been nurturing them for at least 50 years.

"Years ago, when he was Prince Charles, our current King advocated talking to trees and plants, so I suppose I took inspiration from him because you can't get a better recommendation than that," he said.

Mr Tyers said when people found out he talked to his sunflower, "they started calling me the 'sunflower whisperer' and it seems to have stuck".

Guy Tyers says it is the biggest specimen he has grown in 50-years of raising sunflowers

Cheri Gardiner, a manager at Fair Haven, said residents were "thrilled" with the progress of the sunflowers.

"I think Mr Tyers did an incredible job with his pep talks to the winning sunflower, it has raised smiles and brought so much joy to our home, he really is our own 'sunflower whisperer'," she said.