{"id":5676,"date":"2026-10-29T00:11:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T00:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/?p=5676"},"modified":"2026-10-29T00:12:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T00:12:59","slug":"1000-sunflower-seeds-bring-retirement-village-residents-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/retirement\/1000-sunflower-seeds-bring-retirement-village-residents-together\/","title":{"rendered":"1,000 sunflower seeds bring retirement village residents together"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"5676\" class=\"elementor elementor-5676\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-c34c682 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"c34c682\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3c815f7\" data-id=\"3c815f7\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-603f013 elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"603f013\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>W<strong>ho would have thought a packet of sunflower seeds could bring so much happiness?<\/strong><\/p><p>At 93, Doug Tucker decided to try something new. With wife Margaret by his side, he started growing sunflowers at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au\/operators\/bluecare-56\">BlueCare<\/a>&#8216;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bluecare.org.au\/retirement-villages\/gold-coast\/elanora\/elanora-gardens\">Elanora Retirement Village<\/a> in Elanora, Gold Coast, Queensland.<\/p><p>Before long, their flowers became a talking point, with neighbours and visitors stopping to admire them and share a conversation.<\/p><p>But Doug and Margaret were not alone.<\/p><p>More than 15 BlueCare retirement villages across Queensland, home to over 1,800 residents, joined the inaugural Great Sunflower Grow Off.<\/p><p>More than 1,000 seeds were distributed, with residents participating in over 20 activities, including gardening, painting, baking, craft and even LEGO building.<\/p><p>The initiative was part of BlueCare Giving Day, raising awareness and support for people living with dementia and their families.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-a225daa elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"a225daa\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6e32f43\" data-id=\"6e32f43\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e1a1749 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"e1a1749\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"497\" height=\"601\" src=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Picture6.png\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-image-5679\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-edf27a1 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"edf27a1\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-66ade8d\" data-id=\"66ade8d\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cea9a60 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cea9a60\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3><strong>When the sunflowers wouldn&#8217;t grow<\/strong><\/h3><p>At Wirunya Retirement Village, residents planted 93 sunflower seeds, organised working bees and carefully tended their seedlings.<\/p><p>Their goal was to create a colourful display for residents living in the neighbouring aged care dementia unit.<\/p><p>Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas. When their sunflowers failed to bloom in time, residents created a handmade display instead.<\/p><p>Their determination earned Wirunya the Golden Sunflower Award for best overall entry and inspired plans for a regular gardening group and community vegetable patch.<\/p><p>Doug and Margaret won the Best in Bloom Award.<\/p><h3><strong>Sunflowers without soil<\/strong><\/h3><p>Not everyone needed a garden to participate.<\/p><p>At Carlyle Gardens Mackay, Glenda Evans transformed an old tin trunk, painted rocks and garden ornaments into a colourful sunflower display.<\/p><p>Jocelyn Gartner from Iona Retirement Village put her cross-stitch skills to work.<\/p><p>Students joined residents at Argyle Gardens to build LEGO sunflowers, while Wondall Gardens welcomed Year 6 students for a sunflower-themed painting session.<\/p><p>BlueCare Executive General Manager Retirement Living Natalie Smith said the competition became much more than growing flowers.<\/p><p>&#8220;Sunflowers became the starting point for something much bigger,&#8221; she said.<\/p><p>The activities encouraged friendships, creativity and conversations about dementia.<\/p><p>And for Doug, 93, his new hobby delivered something particularly special.<\/p><p>As he explained, growing the sunflowers transformed the difficult reality of dementia into something beautiful and visible.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3442e97 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3442e97\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-2a4b3fd\" data-id=\"2a4b3fd\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-77dcd8b elementor-button-success elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"77dcd8b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/thedcmgroup.createsend1.com\/t\/y-e-fhidktt-l-v\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Return to Newsletter<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who would have thought a packet of sunflower seeds could bring so much happiness? At 93, Doug Tucker decided to try something new. With wife Margaret by his side, he started growing sunflowers at BlueCare&#8216;s Elanora Retirement Village in Elanora, Gold Coast, Queensland. Before long,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retirement"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5676"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5682,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5676\/revisions\/5682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}