Meet Bertha, a 4-metre sunflower that popped up out of nowhere

A Windsor man says this summer surprised himwith an addition to his backyardhedidn't plant a sunflower.

David Garlick says he also didn't expect it to grow so much. It's now nearly 4metrestall, though it was slightly taller before the top head got eaten.

"We think probably a squirrel planted it sometime in May," said Garlick.

He originally thought it was a weed that he'dhave to remove later, but he decided to let it grow a bit to confirm.

"I staked it when itwas about two feet tall and then when it got about sixfeet tall, we just kept watering it and that's all we did,"said Garlick.

According to one sunflower grower in Ontario,a plant this size isnot out of the ordinary. Sunflowers can grow about 4.5 metres tall.

Rain plays a factor, and Windsor-Essex was hit with a lot of rain this summer.

The sunflower that holds the Guiness World Recordrecord for height grew to9.17 metres.

After he postedsome pictures to Facebook, Garlick said the sunflower received aname.

"We've been calling it Bertha for the last couple of weeks. One of my former students said you should call it Big Bertha," said Garlick, a former school principal.

Garlick said people have been asking him to take it to the Harrow Fair, but he doesn't think it's a good idea.

"To do that, I'd have to kill her. I'd have to dig her up, and then I have to figure out some way of getting her to Harrow without destroying the heads."

"So we're going to leave her there, and she's going to stay there until she ends up giving herself over to the squirrels and the birds," he added.

Still strong, even after storms

Windsor-Essex was hit with multiple big storms this summer, but Bertha survived them all.

Garlick said he did have to brace the plant just a bit after a storm as it was fallinga little.

"Twodoors over after that big storm [last week], one of their trees fell down and our sunflower didn't do anything," said Garlick.

"It's just been minding its own business," he added.

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