Amusing the smaller grandkids

A few kid-friendly plants in the garden can help pass the time on days when you are chief baby-sitter. Here’s a few suggestions:

Honeysuckle: fun to bite the ends off the flowers and suck out the honey.

Fuchsias: little girls can twirl the flowers like ballerinas.

Lamb’s ears: stroking the felty leaves of Stachys lanata feels just like stroking a lamb’s ear.

Impatiens: the seed pods of busy lizzies pop satisfactorily when ripe.

Snapdragons: squeeze the flowers and they open their mouths like dragons.

Bamboo: the dry sheaths of the stem make wonderful long witches’ fingernails.

Trigger plants: touch the flowers of Stylidium and they magically explode to spread pollen.

March 2019