Van Dycks

Coneflower Magnus
Item # 64814 Echinacea Purpurea Sunrise
Item # 64983 Coneflower Sunset
Item # 64991 Coneflower Jade
Item # 64985 Black-eyed Susan
Item # 62864 Butterfly Bush
Royal Red
Item # 64372 Daylily Big Smile
Item # 64953 Daylily Cool It
Item # 64463 Daylily Strawberry Candy
Item # 64783

If it's true that our children are our future, then the future of gardening belongs to them. It's up to us, as their elders, to make sure they understand what that legacy means.

Of course, there are those of us who remember being forced at some point in our childhood to plant, water, or weed in our parent's or grandparent's garden when we would rather have been riding a bicycle, playing ball or hanging out with friends. So, how do we get our children interested in doing things that we remember disliking, if not actively hating?

Luckily, quite a few of us no longer dislike doing routine garden chores. The payback for performing these tasks is a satisfying garden, whether it's an expression of our own creativity or that of a hired garden designer. It could be a relaxing, peaceful retreat that encourages meditation, a colorful cottage garden full of whimsy, a formal parterre, or something entirely different, but the reward is worth the effort. As the late Washington Post garden columnist Henry Mitchell reminds us, “Almost any garden, if you see it at just the right moment can be confused with paradise”.

As every gardener knows, however, a garden is not about instant gratification. A satisfying garden is the result of patience as much as it is of hard work. Perhaps the most important lesson we can teach our youngsters is that some things are worth working and waiting for. This is not so easy in today's world, where everything seems to stream past at the speed of light and hardly anyone is unconnected to the wider world.

How do we show our children that it is possible to disconnect from the office, cell phone, computer, TV, Blackberry, or iPod once in awhile, when this seems impossible for many people? One way is for each of us to take that difficult step ourselves. If we can show our children by example that a person can still be successful despite being “unplugged” for a few hours each week, we will have done more for our children than we might imagine.

So when is the right time to introduce your children to the joys of gardening? A curious toddler may be the perfect and most willing participant there is in learning about all of the pleasures of digging holes, discovering worms and spider webs, and making mud pies. It's up to their families to find ways to provide these kinds of experiences.

One resource is public gardens. Many offer basic garden experiences to children as young as three. Fees are usually quite reasonable or even free if the garden has secured a grant for children's gardening programs. Parents may or may not be included in the activities, but it can be a rewarding experience for both them and children if they are.

For very young children there are play sets specifically designed to get youngsters gardening. Available in many types of stores, from garden centers to “big boxes” to department and toy stores to bookstores, some sets are tied to familiar characters such as Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob Squarepants and others. They often include a book of some kind, child-sized tools, garden gloves or hat, and even seeds. The important thing is not just to give a child one of these sets and leave him to figure out what to do but to take the time to demonstrate how to use the tools and plant the seeds -- if possible, while you are performing similar tasks with adult-sized tools. Make it fun and you will have an eager young gardener on your hands.

Once children reach school age, it becomes a little tougher to interest them in the garden. By then there are many demands on their time—homework, soccer practice, karate, ballet and piano lessons, etc. However, many schools now provide young students a chance to grow vegetables and flowers in some sort of teaching garden as part of the science curriculum. This is, perhaps, fueled by the fact that so many elementary school children arrive with no idea where their food comes from, and may also be in dire need of fresh air and exercise. In the past, teachers sometimes took the initiative, requesting room on school grounds to place a garden, and often paying for seeds and other supplies out of their own pocket.

That is no longer necessary. There are grants available from the National Gardening Association and other organizations, which provide tools, seeds and other items needed to maintain a successful school garden. Agents from the county cooperative extension service can provide invaluable research-based gardening information and advice. For decades, rural children joined local 4H clubs (a cooperative extension program); now they are available to suburban kids as well. 4H clubs still offer information on animal care and husbandry, but among other topics, they also offer kid centered gardening projects. Scouting programs can also be sources of information and funding. Look for information about local garden clubs, horticultural societies, or maybe even check out your local botanical garden for summer camps.

Some garden centers and specialty nurseries offer gardening classes specifically for youngsters, as well as for adults. Sometimes these classes are designed as a series, over several weeks, but are often one-session, with the children taking home a planted seed, bulb or small plant to take care of. Fees vary, but if your child wants to learn bonsai, there is a very good chance that someone in the local gardening community can teach that and perhaps even orchid or cactus culture as well.

A sometimes untapped resource is the children's own grandparents. If Grandma or Grandpa is a gardener, their garden is part of the visiting grandchildren's experience. The kids may go fishing with Grandpa and bake cookies with Grandma, but they may also have fond memories of having their fingers “bitten” by snapdragons or having hollyhock “dollies” made for them. A particularly fragrant lilac or rose bush – first encountered in Grandma's garden --may spark fond memories when those scents are encountered even many years later.

In other families, an aunt, an uncle, or a kind neighbor provides the memories. Whoever does the honors, these gardening mentors pass on their enthusiasm for plants to the children and other visitors they encounter. Children are particularly good at picking up such cues. Often they prompt a life-long respect for natural processes and enjoyment of outdoor activities. It's up to parents to give their children learning opportunities and the gift of their time, patience and loving attention. Make it fun and they will come.

Most young children have a limited attention span, and most probably haven't yet learned about the rewards of patience. That is why the first gardening lessons for children are usually devoted to plants that sprout quickly and are easily nurtured to fruit or flower. Beans, marigolds, pansies, radishes and lettuce are in that category. Those who have never grown bean plants will be astounded at the height and vigor these amazing plants display. Grown on a teepee of bamboo or other trellis, they seem to grow at least a foot each week and soon produce pods containing fat beans. What more could a young gardener desire? More beans, of course.

Other winners include garden peas and tomatoes, especially patio-sized plants. Many vegetables come in miniature sizes now, perfect for containers, so a lack of space for a “real” vegetable garden need not be a stumbling block. Containers with good drainage holes, sterile potting soil, at least 6-8 hours of sun each day, a convenient way to deliver water, and a regular boost of fertilizer is all that is necessary for a container garden.

After initial success, the patience factor is less of a problem. Sunflowers have large seeds and depending on the variety, can make very, very large plants with dinner-plate-sized flowers. Once the flowers have bloomed, an interesting observation can be made: sunflower blossoms follow the sun across the sky, facing east in the morning and ending up facing west as the sun sets. Children can track this scientific phenomenon by taking photos one or two hours apart throughout the day. After the petals fall off in autumn, the seed heads will attract migrating songbirds that will eat the nutritious seeds to fuel their flight south for the winter.

Once a child has successfully and quickly grown their first “garden” the next step is choosing plants that are guaranteed to be maintenance free. A perennial favorite is the coneflower. Colorful and easy to grow, coneflowers produce large daisy-like flowers that bloom from July-September. After their petals fall in autumn, they attract migrating songbirds. One of the most popular coneflowers is Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus', awarded the 1998 Perennial Plant of the Year award by the Perennial Plant Association. 'Magnus' grows 24-36 inches tall with rose red petals and dark brown cone-shaped centers. 'Magnus' has some very beautiful cousins, too. 'Sunrise' has citron yellow petals and a very unusual center that starts out green and gradually becomes wider as it turns golden over the course of the summer. 'Sunset' is, as you might expect, a warm russet orange with a prominent brown central cone. 'Jade' is even more unusual. It has jade green central cones surrounded by clear white petals whose ends are tipped in green. Amazing!

Another easy perennial is black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm'. Bright golden yellow daisy-like petals surround small dark brown button cones (the black eyes). Black-eyed Susan is a beloved wildflower of the prairies, and this particular selection was honored as the Perennial Plant of the Year in 1999. It blooms in July-September in zones 4-10. Goldfinches will visit to eat the seeds if the seed heads are left standing in autumn.

Children seem to love watching, chasing and occasionally capturing butterflies as they flutter from bloom to bloom. One way to ensure that they stick around all summer is by adding, Buddleia davidii 'Royal Red'. A shrub that looses its leaves in late winter, the butterfly bush blooms heavily from June-frost in zones 5-9. The flowers form lilac-like trusses of fragrant reddish violet, and the number and variety of butterflies it attracts is astonishing. (Butterfly bush is listed as an invasive plant in a few states, and should not be planted where it is a problem. Check with your county's cooperative extension office for your state's list.)

Probably one of the easiest of all plants for beginning gardeners is the daylily (Hemerocallis sp.). Disease resistant, drought tolerant and long-blooming once established, daylily flowers come in a rainbow of colors, and some flowers combine two or more colors. They also come in several different shapes and sizes – some quite large and others small enough for patio containers. Who could resist a flower called 'Big Smile', whose bright yellow, 4 inch wide flowers have ruffled salmon pink edges with a greenish middle (called an “eye-zone”). Another, called 'Cool It' is fragrant, with 6 inch wide white flowers with a green throat. An added bonus is that it will repeat its bloom in August-September after blooming earlier in June-July. Wouldn't you like some 'Strawberry Candy'? Of course, and who wouldn't when the candy is calorie-free “eye-candy”. This dainty daylily has strawberry pink flowers with a rose-red eye and a golden throat. It blooms in June-July and again in August-September and was the winner of the 1998 Stout Medal, the most prestigious award given by the Hemerocallis Society. Daylilies are hardy in zones 3-9.

As your children get older, other interests will no doubt fill their time and gardening will no longer be a big part of their lives. That is to be expected. Also to be expected is that somewhere along the line as they become adults with families of their own, gardens and gardening will evoke memories they will want to share with their children and grandchildren. Maybe a few will enter gardening professions. Maybe not, but in any case the torch will have been passed to the next generation.