INA, Ill. (June 15, 2022) — The Sunflower Project attracted families to Veteran's Memorial Park in Mt. Vernon on Saturday with plant education, face painting, giveaways, and flower planting opportunities. The event was the first of three to span the life cycle of the flowers from June to September. The next event, 9 - 11 am on Saturday, July 30, will be the highly anticipated bloom event, where the flowers will reach maturity. The harvest and clean-up event is scheduled for 9-11 am on Saturday, September 3rd.
"We are working towards the educational components of planting," said University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Educator, Chris Lueking. "They are planting Teddy Bear Sunflowers at the front of the field. They grow to a height of two feet tall. The families will be able to come out and see how the flowers they planted are doing at the July 30 event."
"The Flowers will take about a week to germinate and begin popping up," Lueking added. "Kids can learn about this process and more at the Rend Lake College tent where there are crosswords, puzzles, and graphics to see the parts of a plant. Then, the kids can practice taking care of a plant because we have seeds and pots that they can take home with them. This is the first event like this and we are happy to see people stopping by asking questions. The whole event is great for educational purposes but also to bring in pollinators like bees and butterflies."
The project aims to beautify the area, regenerate soil, and attract pollinators to the park while educating community members about how to grow their own flowers.
The project is sponsored by:
Rend Lake College
Cedarhurst Center for the Arts
The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
Enjoy Mt. Vernon
Bloom Celebration Event - Saturday, July 30 - 9 -11 am - Veteran's Memorial Park, Mt. Vernon, Illinois
Harvest and Clean-up Event - Saturday, September 3 - 9 -11 am - Veteran's Memorial Park, Mt. Vernon, Illinois