Many of the
same guidelines apply to flower gardens as vegetable gardens. One way to
have fun with flowers would be to have a theme. Theme gardens are like
planning a great party or getting to decorate your kids' bedrooms over each
year — only gardens grow and blossom. To create a theme, you can borrow from
birthday and Halloween themes or stick to the children's classics, such as
Peter Rabbit (don't forget the carrots and the blue jacket) or the Wizard of
Oz (poppies, yellow brick, and of course a scarecrow). Here are a few fresh
ideas.
Outer
Space. Grow
vines up a rocket fashioned of bamboo canes. Hang some hand-made stars and
planets from the canes and think cosmic when it comes to plants: cosmos, of
course, rocket flowers, moonflowers, moon and stars watermelon ... the sky's
the limit.
Pocahontas' Own.
Forget the Disney version of this classic story. As a child, the real
Pocahontas and her Powhatan playmates sat in scarecrow huts waiting for
crows to dare to eat their 'Nothstine' or 'Golden Bantam' corn. They had
face-painted ceremonial poles encircling their gardens. Passionflowers
entwined their 'Mammoth' sunflowers. Of course, they grew crookneck squash
and beans (similar to 'Turkey Craw'), too.
July
Fourth.
Plan ahead for your local Fourth of July celebration, and you'll be properly
decorated. You may even have a float for the town parade if you plant your
garden in a mobile little red wagon. Let red, white, and blue flowers
abound.
Include a
sweet alyssum border, geraniums, lobelia, cosmos, begonias, and impatiens.
For the finishing touch, add American flags to the mix.
Alphabet
Gardens. This
is just one fun idea if you have room for 26 plants. Let your youngster
choose from asters to zinnias, and make signs for each plant.
Color
theme garden –
Does your child have a favorite color? Have them do an entire flower garden
with that color as their theme.
Here
are a number of web sites that may give you more ideas on how to teach your
kids gardening.
