A Ukrainian immigrant grew the world’s tallest sunflower in his Indiana backyard as a tribute to his war-torn home country.
Alex Babich, 47, achieved the feat of nursing Ukraine’s national flower until it reached a neck-craning 35 feet and 9 inches into the sky, stretching as high as a telephone pole.
The flower, nicknamed “Clover,” was confirmed last Wednesday by Guinness World Records as the tallest sunflower ever measured.
Babich’s 10-year-old son would climb onto scaffolding surrounding the flower and place four-leaf clovers on its leaves, for good luck, earning the plant its namesake.
Roughly 85 people, including master gardeners from a local university and representatives from the Allen County Department of Weights and Measures, gathered to measure the flower on Sept. 3.
Babich was on the phone with a representative from Guinness World Records as a camera crew and a drone captured a 40-foot cherry picker measuring the giant flower in his Fort Wayne backyard.
The sunflower beat a previous world record holder in Germany by 5 feet, according to Guinness.
“I’m going to die someday, but the stories of this flower will live on,” Babich said. “My kids will be telling this story to the grandkids.”
“It’s very emotional,” Babich said. “It’s as good as it gets for someone who grows giants.”
Babich, a landscape gardener, seed seller, and outdoor gear designer, immigrated to the US at age 14 after the Chernobyl disaster.
Seven years ago, he began growing sunflowers as a symbol of love for his home country.
Even his first sunflower reached a mind-blowing 13 feet tall. Eventually, the green-thumbed immigrant found the secret to continually shattering his own records.
The record-breaking flower was the result of “trial and error over the years.”
“It’s one of my kids,” he said. “You’re out there every day taking care of it.”
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 towering flower — a symbol of solidarity and peace for Ukrainians — will be featured in a documentary, titled “Bloom,” planned for release this summer.
With Post wires
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