Remember Greta the pumpkin? Now meet the tallest sunflower Colorado history

Move over, Greta. There's a new gargantuan plant in town.

After growing Greta, the second-largest pumpkin in Colorado history, in his Fort Collins front yard last year, Brad Bledsoe took the crown for the state's tallest sunflower this week.

An official team visited Bledsoe's home to measure his sunflower Wednesday. Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetable Growers board member Joe Scherber and Bledsoe uprooted the flower and, laying it horizontally in his driveway, measured it from the top of its root flare to the top of the flower, Bledsoe explained. The final height, certified by Scherber and RMGVG president Teresa Rodriquez, was 18 feet, 3 3/8 inches. The previous record, set just two weeks ago by a sunflower grown in Lakewood, was 14 feet, 6 1/4 inches, Scherber said.

Bledsoe, who works as a firefighter for Aurora Fire Rescue, planted nine sunflower seeds in his west Fort Collins backyard in May. After thinning the contenders down to three, one stood out among the rest — growing to roughly 16 feet tall, Bledsoe estimated in late August.

The giant sunflower warranted some additions to the Bledsoes' backyard — namely a contraption of three 20-foot PVC pipes that stuck up into the air to support the plant.

"My wife was super embarrassed," Bledsoe said with a laugh. "She was like, 'you're out of control with this stuff.' "

Bledsoe dipped his toes into pumpkin growing in the summer of 2021 as a way to get rid of the grass in his front yard. Last year — in what he called his rookie season — he went all in with Greta, an Atlantic Giant pumpkin he planted in his front yard.

Despite starting two Atlantic Giant pumpkins this year from seeds harvested from Greta, they didn't take off quite like expected. One was taken out by a disease and the other's growth stalled as this summer's heavy rainfall caused cooler nights in Fort Collins, Bledsoe surmised.

Per tradition, Bledsoe's 4- and 6-year-old daughters still bestowed a name on this season's surviving pumpkin: Audrey.

While this was the first year Bledsoe grew sunflowers, it likely won't be the last. Bledsoe and his wife recently closed on a new house that sits on an acre. There, Bledsoe said he's looking forward to building a real greenhouse and an expanded garden with room for sunflowers, giant tomatoes, butternut squash, long gourds and yet-to-be named Atlantic Giant pumpkins.

Fort Collins patio guide: There's still time to enjoy these top 20 Fort Collins area patios

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: This Fort Collins-grown sunflower is officially the state's tallest