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Presents... 3 Check It Out! 4 Grow Some Fun 6 Window Gardening 8 Wee Willie’s Work 10 Make a Compost Pile 11 Plant a Clock 12 10 Blooming Facts 14 Puzzles 16 Grow a Butterfly Garden 18 Sock Some Seeds 19 Garden Giggles 20 Make a Garden in a Jar 22 The Secret Life of Bulbs 23 Drawing Flowers 24 Magic Lemons and Cabbage 25 Cowboy Clark & Larry 26 Grow a White Leaf 27 Raising a Big Stink 28 Ziggy’s Mail Zone 29 Kids Corner 30 30 Puzzle Solutions 2
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What would you like to grow? How about something for fun? Learn how to grow gourds for making some cool crafts. For the first time ever, we will show you how to witness a plant growing from a seed and watch the process! Attract beautiful butterflies in your butterfly garden. See how a daffodil grows from underground and learn to draw the flower with dots called stippling. Plant a clock using plants whose flowers open and close each day like clockwork. Perform a magic trick using a lemon and cabbage. Try another trick growing a plant with a white leaf. Learn how to grow an unusual garden with an old pair of socks. Read about how Wee Willie and his family are ready to help you and your garden. There are so many activities. Where should you begin? Find a comfortable spot and dig into this issue of gardening fun. But hurry. It’s time to plant. Get started now! And don’t forget to show us what you grew.
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What am I? I come in about every color and shape imaginable. I can look weird, with funny yellow bumps all over. Or I can be smooth and beautiful. My neck might be long, but I may have no neck at all. I am a gourd! You can grow your own gourds to use in craft projects. All you need are gourd seeds and a sunny spot, such as a garden, along a fence, or along the south side of your house. Plant the seeds in May through mid-June, 1/2" deep and 2" apart. Water if the soil is dry. Tiny plants will poke out of the ground in 7 to 14 days. Keep weeds away from your young plants. Add a little fertilizer. Water during dry spells. Your gourd vines may grow almost a foot a day! Pick small gourds when they get hard. Gourds for making birdhouses should be picked just before a frost. Leave a few inches of stem on your grounds when you pick them.
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To make a birdhouse, choose a dried gourd with a round bottom half. Have a parent help you drill a 1" to 1-3/4" hole, 6" from the bottom. Enlarge your hole by using a hole saw or a round file. You can glue a 1-1/2" long twig in a small hole drilled 3/4" below the entrance. Also drill a small hole near the gourd’s stem end. Put a string through it. Use craft paint to make your birdhouse any color you like. Hang it at least 5' off the ground.
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It takes time for gourds to fully dry inside – several months for small gourds, longer for large ones. To dry, lay them on newspaper or hang them from a string. If mold forms on your gourds, don’t worry. Once dried, wash them with warm soapy water. Use a Brillo pad to remove any moldy leftovers. Wipe them dry.
You can also grow pumpkins, which are gourds. Scoop out the seeds and wash them carefully. Then spread them on a baking sheet. Set the baking sheet in the sun for a day or two to dry. Once dried, you can paint them or color them with an orange marker. Glue them onto a piece of paper or paper plate to make your own pumpkin picture. Which gourds will you decide to grow? There are many to choose from. Have fun!
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by Denise Wilcox
photos by Denise and Steve Wilcox
Wouldn’t it be thrilling to have flowers that fly in your garden, as well as blooms that stand still? With some careful planning, you can create a garden bursting with colorful blossoms that attract butterflies.
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First, find a spot in your yard that receives around six hours of sunshine per day. Butterflies are cold-blooded insects that need heat to warm their blood so they can move. Flowers that attract butterflies need that much sun to thrive. After you have selected the perfect spot for your garden and have prepared the soil, it is time to focus on choosing plants. Butterflies are most attracted to red, orange, yellow, and purple flowers. Planting colors in clusters makes it easier for butterflies to see them. A variety of perennials and annuals come in these colors. Perennials are flowers that regrow on their own each spring. Annuals must be replaced each year. Black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, asters, and blanket flowers are perennials that will grow
Buckeye on lantana
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Tiger swallowtail on sunflower
Zebra longwing on lantana
in most places in the US. Butterflies love them. Zinnias and sunflowers are hardy annuals in bold colors that attract butterflies. These are easily grown from seeds. If you have questions about what grows best in your neighborhood, ask a local nursery for suggestions. If you choose a variety of native perennials for your butterfly garden, they will be easy to take care of. These sturdy plants require little water besides rain. Removing weeds as the flowers grow will help your plants flourish because they won’t have to share water and nutrients in the soil with unwanted weeds. Do not apply pesticides or insecticides. These kill the butterflies you are trying to welcome into your garden. It’s spring, so start planning and planting your garden now. You will provide a safe and tasty environment for butterflies and gift yourself with months of delight.
Monarch on goldenrod
Spicebush swallowtail on salvia
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In the fall, plants make seeds. These seeds will sprout and grow into new plants the following spring. It is amazing how many seeds the fall plants make. This experiment will show you.
What You Need: • a pair of BIG old wool socks (adult size) • your feet
What You Do:
T he Science Secret
2. Pull the two old wool socks right over your shoes.
Take off your socks and LOOK. If you have a magnifying glass, it will be even more fun to see how many different kinds of seeds are on your socks. Can you IMAGINE how many seeds there must be in that field? Probably millions!
1. In the fall, go out into a field or vacant lot or anywhere weeds are growing. This experiment will not work in the spring, when plants are just beginning to grow. 3. Go STOMP AROUND the field. Rub your ankles against the plants that are standing. Jump up and down in them. Dance around. Twirl and swirl your legs. Jump, hop, kick, skip, spin, run, and do cartwheels. Have a ball!
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The whole time you are swishing around and having fun, you will be collecting seeds! Seeds from dozens of different field plants will be sticking to your socks.
When you are done looking, you may do one of two things. You can brush off the seeds and toss them back into the field so they can grow into plants next year. OR, if your socks are really old, you can dig a shallow hole and PLANT YOUR SOCKS! Then you will be able to see how many of the seeds grow into new plants next spring. Do you think they will grow into a sockshaped garden?
GARDEN GIGGLES by Kelly Musselman
1. What does every gardener grow in her garden? 2. What kind of vegetables do dads like to plant? 3. What does Santa Claus say when he gardens? 4. Why don’t scarecrows eat the vegetables in a garden? 5. What are the most valuable vegetables in a garden? 6. What is the fastest vegetable in a garden? 7. What garden vegetables are always listening? 8. What vegetable sees everything in the garden? 9. What do you call a gardener who is good at his work? Answers on page 30
by Joe Bore
"Mom's planting spinach and broccoli. I planted marshmallows and popcorn."
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