GRANDPARENTS have grown a rare twelve-headed sunflower in their garden during lockdown.

Ann Storey, 79, a retired office manager at Barrow Police Station, and Ken Storey, 80, who worked as a foreman at the shipyard, were shocked to discover their ten-foot garden sunflower had sprouted a mammoth twelve flower heads.

The couple, who live in Summerhill Gardens in Barrow, have been growing sunflowers for years but have never seen one with so many heads.

Mrs Storey said she bought a packet of sunflower seeds from B&M Bargains in early Spring for the new season.

She said: “We normally grow sunflowers every year and they usually only have one head on them each.

“We hadn’t even noticed they had so many heads on them until the next door neighbour pointed it out to us.

“We said wow and immediately went to have a look, and true enough there was the main head and then the other ones had just shot up.

“I’ve never seen a sunflower with that many heads.”

Mrs Storey said the sunflower has been towering above the couple, reaching a whopping ten foot this week.

“I’m only four foot 11 so it’s a lot taller than me,” she said.

“We’ve been measuring it during lockdown and it just seems to grow and grow.

“They can grow up to 20 foot very fast so we don’t know what to expect.

“It seems to grow an inch every night.

“We’ve been growing sunflowers for years though and I’ve never seen one with quite so many heads.

“The twelfth head only appeared just yesterday.

“I don’t think it’ll get any more heads now they’ve all flowered but you never know.”

Mrs Storey said the unusual sunflower has given the family a source of joy during the lockdown period.

“It’s just lovely,” she said.

“Everybody likes to come to the house and have a look at it - it’s turned into quite the spectacle.

“My husband loves his gardening so this is great for him.

“I’m disabled with arthritis so I just supervise.

“The sunflower and garden has given us a lot of joy during lockdown.

“There’s a window at the side of the house where you can see the sunflower perfectly.

“It’s a bit of pleasure when you’re stuck in the house all the time

“We love to sit in the garden and see all the plants.”