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Any Alan Titchmarsh fans?

Never a stalwart at the allotments Grancher brought home from the White Horse a twist of 'Sketch', and spilled onto the kitchen-table oilcloth eleven ('Big uns') seeds. They seemed toylike: a thick-fingered child's imagination of how a flower does its thing. Flat, striated, glossy, almost japanned. "Natty says Sunflowers. Natty says they turn to follow the light when they are grown." It seemed unlikely. We checked the gardening book but found nothing. Visited the library. "Native to the Americas." But Grancher lacked nothing in the way of faith. If cabbages, rhubarb, swede, grew so generously ... why not sunflowers? He pondered whether to set them in the garden, but settled that they deserved the open sky and the lighter soil of the Council ground. I swear I never saw a grown man dandle seed the way Grancher cossetted those husks. We wondered if he'd ever plant them. Then Jimmy - his budgie - picked one out of his palm, split it, and ate it. That was enough. Everyday, after the shift, he detoured to the Grounds. Kept his key in his snap-tin. We'd never seen him this anxious about beet, or even runner-beans. And - all respect to Natty - they grew. Faster than we could believe. A row of giants; after six weeks they needed staking. Grancher flourished the only bamboo-stalks in the whole plot. By twelve weeks, they were taller than he was, and - as promised - they turned to face the light. He liked to think of them 'getting all that sun' as he lay on his face in four inches of dark, overcutting the heat, until it fell in.

Public Comments

1. Keep your chat show away from our screens and stick to re-portting plants.
2. alan titchmarsh is a relative of mine on my mothers side.her maiden name was titchmarsh ,and the line joins somewhere in the forth generation.
3. I don't know who that is, but cool poem. I really like the description of the seeds in the second stanza.
4. I loved "Pebble Mill"!
5. eleven (big uns) ( why I man ye canut get better than that man ) I have never listened to anyone describe a sunflower blossom the way you can, not even Tichmarsh :) And yes I do like him , I'm trying to think of something to say thats funny about your poem , but I can't think of anything because its so good , mined you, you get a bit lost of at the end as he lay on his face in four inches , I would of said at least six inches :) well one day I want to make a sunflower and think about your poem .... its nice Thank you :)