GMG's Friday Find - Giving Children Roots to Grow!

Today's Friday Find is all about bringing the love of gardening to children. You have enjoyed gardening for years and now want to share that hobby with your children or grandchildren. What better way to show them how much fun it is by helping them really see what is happening beneath the ground!

Scholastic Root-Vue Farm
by HSP Nature Toys

Feed children's natural curiosity with HSP Nature Toys award-winning nature kits! The Root-Vue Farm won the Dr. Toy Best 100 Toys Award, the Parent's Choice Seal of Approval, and the Oppenheim Gold Seal. Give kids X-ray eyes while they watch carrot, radish and onion seeds develop underground!

Description from website...
This self-watering grow unit has a special viewing window set at a proper angle which makes it easy to watch the roots develop underground! Watch carrot, radish and onion seeds grow up as the roots grow down! Fun for ages 4 and up. Made in the USA. Full Safety Approval.

Complete kit includes: Durable unit with acrylic viewing window, built-in water basin and drainage reservoir, light shield that keeps plants growing but can be removed for viewing roots, 8 super-expanding grow mix wafers, 3 packets of seeds, identification labels, water wicks for self-watering system and 16 page booklet with complete instructions and experiments. $32.95 (free shipping!) Measures 16" x 5.57" x 9.57".

I may get one of these for myself! How cool!

-Karen
GMG

Happy Summer Solstice

Hello summer and the longest day of the year! I still can't believe that summer is finally upon us. Now it's time to sit back and enjoy my garden. I'm all about low-maintenance gardening, so I thought I would share some of my favorite plants that are blooming right now in my city garden.

First up, the ever-blooming Endless Summer mophead hydrangea. I've had this one for at least three years now and it's quite spectacular in full bloom! I love the fact that I if I cut off the blue blooms, this encourages the plant to grow more. Plus these blooms look amazing as cut flowers in vases.

Next up, coreopsis 'Sunshine Superman' from Northcreek Nurseries. I was luckily enough to pick this up last year at the GWA Symposium in Dallas. What a beauty this turned out to be! It's golden yellow flowers, which are low-spreading, will bloom now until October. It's an easy native that can survive in sun or part shade. I think it looks right at home with my Sapphire Indigo (TM) clematis.

And finally, the extraordinary lacecap hydrangea called 'Veitchii,' which is just starting to bloom now. During the summer it will produce these showy lacecap clusters of flowers that range from pink to blue to white depending on your soil PH. Mine grows happily in full sun, but it also does well in partial shade.

I'd love to hear which plants are blooming in your garden!

-Stacey

GMG