GIVE A CHILD A FLOWER

June 3, 2017

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. " Variation: "Give a child a flower, and you make her happy for a moment; teach a child to garden, and you make her happy for a lifetime."

Remember the playful interludes of childhood: skipping, hopscotch, and climbing trees? In my neighborhood, playing outside was a year-round way of life, even on rainy days. With my mother's permission, we got sopping wet building dams to capture the spring rain that was running along the roadside ditch. We created magical summer forts by pinning old blankets to the lowest branches on the apple tree, jumped into mountains of fall leaves raked into piles, and built winter snow forts to protect us from the inevitable snowball fights. Our world was full throttle--better than images on a screen!

Even outdoor chores were fun. Marigolds were the first flowers I remember planting. Success. They grew beautifully, dried out at the end of the growing season and provided seed for the next year. The outdoor classroom is a fascinating teacher. Imagination makes it even better. I remember a young boy and his friend excitedly telling their mom about the dinosaur eggs they found in the garden. Imagine the thrill. I wasn't the one to tell them that what they discovered were pods from the Passion Flower vine. They later learned more about gardening through the Junior Master Gardener program.

The JMG is a great resource that helps connect kids to a love of the environment and gardening. Community projects, which are part of the program, introduce kids to volunteer activities, and to top it off, once they complete the program, they achieve certification as a Junior Master Gardener.

There are many ways to stimulate interest in gardening. Something as simple as a Pizza Garden is doable in most landscapes. Designate a circular area and divide it into pie-shaped sections. Plant each section with something you would eat on a pizza: sweet peppers, herbs, tomatoes, etc. When you make pizza, kids can harvest toppings from the Pizza Garden.

Atlanta Botanical Gardens developed an interactive children's garden that is well worth the trip. I also created some scavenger hunts to make visiting other areas of the garden more interesting to children. Of course, I had to preview the garden to identify things that they could easily search, which helps make the stagnant areas more engaging for a child. Ask them to find a dinosaur egg and see what happens!