Ukrainian Immigrant Grows World's Biggest Sunflower to Honor His Nation

Ukrainian immigrant Alex Babich began growing sunflowers in the backyard of his Indiana home seven years ago. He took up the hobby as a way to fondly pay tribute to his home country. The sunflower is Ukraine’s unofficial national flower. It symbolizes hope and resilience after the country willingly gave up its nuclear arms and weathered the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster near its border.  

As Babich’s green thumb got greener, he learned how to grow the sunflowers ever bigger. Babich’s biggest flower is nicknamed “Clover.” It's 35 feet tall. Last week, Guinness World Records certified it as the tallest ever grown. Clover stretches as high as a telephone poll.  

“It’s one of my kids,” Babich told The Associated Press (AP). “You’re out there (each) day taking care of it.”

Babich came to the US in 1991. He was 14 then. He was a refugee of the Chernobyl explosion. It's estimated to have killed 31 in its immediate aftermath. It also killed thousands more from radiation exposure in the years after. 

He grew the sunflowers to honor his native country. Babich also wanted to keep Ukraine's memory alive for him. As the flowers began to get bigger, he asked himself, “How far can we take this?”

Clover, like his other taller ones, is wrapped around scaffolding to secure it. Babich must climb the scaffolding to tend to the flower. He said his success at growing the flower ever taller will be remembered around his Indiana community for decades to come. He said it'll give him and his family a touch of immortality. 

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

Reflect: What is a plant or animal that symbolizes something important to you?

Photo of measuring ceremony for Alex Babich’s sunflower courtesy Guinness World Records.