A Ukrainian immigrant grew the world’s tallest sunflower in his Indiana backyard as a tribute to his war-torn home country.

Alex Babich, 47, achieved the feat of nursing Ukraine’s national flower until it reached a neck-craning 35 feet and 9 inches into the sky, stretching as high as a telephone pole.

The flower, nicknamed “Clover,” was confirmed last Wednesday by Guinness World Records as the tallest sunflower ever measured. 3

Babich’s 10-year-old son would climb onto scaffolding surrounding the flower and place four-leaf clovers on its leaves, for good luck, earning the plant its namesake.

Roughly 85 people, including master gardeners from a local university and representatives from the Allen County Department of Weights and Measures, gathered to measure the flower on Sept. 3.

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