Growing Smiles: Your Sunflower Success

Thank you to all the Millbrook mini's who've sent in photos of their sunflowers, planted from seed at our workshops last Spring. We've been amazed how much they have grown. This colourful yellow giant is over 6ft tall and belongs to mini grower Eliza-Rose - we'd love to know your Sunflower growing secret Eliza-Rose! As part of her growing project she decided to create a beautiful journal to share with her class at school. See photos below.

Millbrook minis - if you have been busy growing your own Millbrook sunflower at home, tag us in your photos on facebook and instagram and we will share them.

5 Reasons to Grow Sunflowers in Your Garden:

• They Are Loved by Pollinators: Sunflowers attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies. This isn’t just good news for the sunflowers but for other plants in your garden, too, which will benefit from being pollinated.
• Natural Pest Control: At Millbrook, we’re big fans of using greener products and methods to keep pests at bay. Sunflowers attract beneficial insects like wasps and ladybirds, which help control pesky aphids and other garden pests. Sunflowers make a great, colourful companion plant for your veg patch.
• They Provide Shade: Plant sunflowers next to more delicate plants and crops like spinach and lettuce to give them shade. They look amazing in your veg patch too.
• Promote Biodiversity: We know how important it is to have a variety of pollinators and beneficial insects in the garden for the health of your soil and plants. Sunflowers are a great plant to help achieve this goal.
• Edible: Sunflower seeds are a nutritious treat for garden birds, and they’re good for you, too. High in protein, essential fats, and fibre, they can be left on the plant to feed feathered friends in the autumn and winter months, or harvested for your own plate. Yummy!

Book a Kid's Planting Workshop at Millbrook!

Our next kid's planting workshops 'Plant a little daffodil with Millbrook' will take place in September.

Book your tickets on our website. £1 donation to Greenfingers charity:

• Millbrook Gravesend planting workshops - 28th & 29th September.
• Millbrook Staplehurst planting workshops - 28th September only.

If you are wondering what to do with your own Millbrook mini's for the rest of the holiday, why not get them started on a gardening project of their own? The RHS website is packed with lots of creative and fun ideas, and we have everything you need at Millbrook from plants and seeds to children's gardening tools. Gardening is a great way to get children active outdoors, help them to see science in action and learn to be curious about nature. Grow their imaginations with Millbrook!