The world’s tallest sunflower blooms in an Indiana backyard as a tribute to Ukraine

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — When Alex Babich, 47, stood in his backyard in Fort Wayne, Indiana, craning his neck to look 35 feet into the sky, he wasn’t just staring at a sunflower. He was looking at his roots — and his future legacy.

The flower, nicknamed “Clover” and confirmed Wednesday by Guinness World Records as the tallest sunflower ever measured, stretches as high as a telephone pole.

Babich, born and raised in Ukraine, immigrated to the U.S. at age 14 in 1991 after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Seven years ago, he started growing sunflowers as a symbol of his love for his home country.

“Sunflowers are the national flower of Ukraine, so it’s special to me,” he said.

Babich’s first sunflower was 13 feet tall, then 15, then 19. Quickly, he began asking himself, “How far can we take this?”

He collected seeds from his tallest specimens to refine a genetic line, swapped seeds from other giant sunflower growers and formulated a secret plant feed he now calls a “family heirloom.” He planted each seed indoors under grow lights in the early spring before transferring them outside. Then he sketched a blueprint of a sunflower scaffold on a napkin and began building.

Babich said the record-breaking flower was the result of “trial and error over years.”

“It’s one of my kids,” he said. “You’re out there every day taking care of it.”

Babich’s 10-year-old son also had an important contribution that earned the towering flower its name. He would climb onto the scaffolding and place four-leaf clovers on the sunflower’s leaves, for good luck.

“I’m going to die someday, but the stories of this flower will live on,” he said. “My kids will be telling this story to the grandkids.”

When measuring day came on Sept. 3, Babich was nervous.

About 85 people had gathered to watch, including several master gardeners from a local university and representatives from the Allen County Department of Weights and Measures. Babich was on a WhatsApp call with a representative from Guinness World Records. A camera crew was filming, and a drone flew overhead. Even Icy D. Eagle, the mascot of the local Komets ice hockey team, was there, according to Guinness.

They used a 40-foot cherry picker to measure the flower. Clover was 35 feet and 9 inches, 5 feet taller than the previous world record holder in Germany.

“It’s very emotional,” Babich said. “It’s as good as it gets for someone who grows giants.”

Growing up amid food shortages in Ukraine sparked Babich’s love for gardening. His affection for sunflowers deepened after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

“We just pray that the war will end, that the killing will stop,” Babich said. “We just hope this inspires some people in the right places. It’s been long enough.”

The sunflower has long been a national symbol representing peace in Ukraine, and since 2022, it has become a symbol of solidarity with the embattled country. In one viral video clip in the war’s early days, a Ukrainian woman confronted a Russian soldier, ultimately offering to “put sunflower seeds in your pocket so they grow when you die.”

In 1996, ministers from the U.S., Russia and Ukraine planted sunflowers at the Pervomaysk missile base to mark the country’s nuclear weapon disarmament. In 1986, after the explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant that later brought Babich’s family to the U.S., scientists planted sunflowers to remove toxins from the soil.

Babich’s sunflower will soon be the star of a documentary, titled “Bloom,” planned for release this summer. In the meantime, Babich has started planting sunflowers around campsites he visited with his family and passing out seed packets to children at festivals.

Plastered onto the seed packets are stickers with the words “Spread the love – sunflower seeds.”

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Fernando reported from Chicago.