When you return from vacation, the Sanseveria is still exactly the same in the windowsill of the classroom. The plant requires hardly any care, but that is all about it! Quite boring for children, such a Sanseveria. Fortunately, there are more possibilities to get to know the plant world, even without a green thumb. In this article ‘funny’ plants that you can use! A few for outside in the (school) garden and a few for inside on the windowsill. See also the green finger tips …
East Indian Cherry
The Nasturtium is easy to sow, looks beautiful and is edible too; a very suitable plant for the children’s garden!
- Latin name: Tropaeolum. (That means something like ‘war booty’, with the leaves representing ‘shields’ and the flowers ‘helmets’)
- The plant is native to South America.
- The common nasturtium is available as a low-growing variety, but also as a climbing plant.
- They can be sown directly in the right place in May.
- They like a sunny spot.
- The climbers need a ‘fence’, which is fun to put together from sticks and ropes.
- Snails don’t like this plant, aphids do. They are sometimes planted to keep other plants free of aphids.
- Early in the morning the dew drops hang on the edges of the round leaves; a beautiful sight.
- Put such a brightly colored flower on your salad; it makes the lettuce tastier and more beautiful!
Marigold
A beautiful, bright orange flower that looks like a flower in a child’s drawing; a heart surrounded by the elongated petals in a neat circle. There are many old stories about the marigold, the plant is also used in ointments and as a coloring agent.
- Its Latin name is Calendula Officinalis. (The plant is used in the well-known ‘Calendulan Ointment’)
- Sow in the spring in a sunny spot, in pots or directly in the garden.
- The soil should not be too moist.
- The plant flowers from June to October.
- It is an annual and must therefore be sown every spring, but after flowering the seeds are easy to harvest.
- The marigold grows to between 30 and 50 centimeters high.
It is said that marigolds grew right where the tears of the Greek goddess Aphrodite fell. Furthermore, it appears that girls walking barefoot through the marigolds suddenly understand the birds. Marigold petals under your bed will protect you and make your dreams come true and there are many more wonderful stories about this ‘coronation flower’. Put them in a vase and the stories will probably come naturally. You could also dry the orange leaves to stick them on a drawing later, then they will continue to bloom forever!
Butterfly bush
There are really butterflies on the famous butterfly bush. Great in a children’s garden or on the schoolyard; Take out a few tiles and hop in a butterfly bush. The plant flowers with large purple (white or lilac) panicles. It grows quickly, but can (must) be pruned back in the spring, so that it does not take up the entire schoolyard.
- Its botanical name is Buddleja Davidii
- The plant is originally from China
- The butterfly bush has to be pruned every year, because otherwise it will grow very high (up to 4 meters), but will get few flowers.
Although the faded panicles are full of seeds, sowing generally does not work; cuttings are going better. You then have to cut off a young shoot just below a pair of leaves in the summer. Cut off the top and plant the cutting in humus-rich, loose soil. Use cutting powder and keep the soil moist. By the way, young butterfly bushes are also available everywhere in the spring for a few euros.
Lantern plant
A bright green plant with bright orange lanterns on it; especially for children, wouldn’t you say? Nice to harvest after the summer, you can decorate the whole class or room with it. With very young children you have to take into account that the plant is a little poisonous, but no worse than a tomato plant.
- Its botanical name is Physalis Alkekengi
- The plant, just like the tomato plant, belongs to the ‘nightshades’ family and is therefore a bit poisonous! (the flower)
- The berry in the lantern is edible.
- The plant is found in a wild form in Central and Southern Europe, it probably originates from China or Japan. People are not sure about that.
- The plant can reach a height of 1.20 meters and does well in almost any soil type.
- The seeds are available everywhere. Sow from the end of April to the end of May in a warm, sunny place directly in the garden and then spray regularly.
- In June / July the plant gets star-shaped, white flowers.
- In August you can expect the beautiful lanterns.
- Harvest before the fall rains, otherwise they will rot.
- Hang them upside down to dry for a few weeks before using them. (In autumn pieces or viewing boxes, like gnome lights around Christmas lights, thread on a thread as an autumn garland, for example.)
Spice-don’t-stir-me
A plant that responds to touch! Very nice for children such a ‘moving plant’. And .. touching it is not bad for the plant, as is sometimes claimed. So very suitable for the classroom, or at home on the windowsill; a b (l) oeiend plant that will certainly appeal to the imagination.
- The plant is native to South America.
- Its Latin name is Mimosa Pudica
- If sown in spring, it can flower at the end of summer.
- The pink or purple fluff balls only flower for one day.
- The composite leaves consist of 10 to 26 smaller leaves, when you touch them the leaves immediately fold together. After a minute or so they open again. The leaves also fold closed at night.
- Spines grow on the stems and on the petioles.
- The plant does best at temperatures of around twenty-five degrees. Looks great on the windowsill, but it can also go outside in the summer.
- Because it is an herb and not a houseplant, it needs a spacious pot, about two liters of soil when it is one meter high.
- The plant can reach a height of one to two meters, but the stems must be tied to a stick.
- The plant turns towards the sun, but this takes a lot of energy, so the pot should not be turned. (You can touch it!)
- Seeds are for sale in most seed shops. After flowering, snow peas form, so the seeds are also available at ‘herb-stir-me-not-holders’ or at the marketplace.
Busy Lizzie
You never have enough ‘Busy Liesjes’ in your class! We used to get a score for ‘Diligence’, this plant is also known today for its fantastic working attitude. Cozy, fast growing and blooming, cheerful and easy too!
- Its Latin name is Impatiens, which means ‘impatient’. Probably because the plant grows remarkably fast, blooms fully and lets the seeds fly around!
- Originally it comes from Africa.
- The plant can be used in the garden, but also on the balcony or indoors, they bloom bright pink or red.
- It is one of the few plants that does well in the shade.
- If you have a plant once, it is very easy to propagate by putting cuttings in a pot of water. After only a few days, the children see the carrots growing. For example, the number of ‘Busy Lies’ can quickly increase in class.
Baby-on-mother’s lap
The ‘Child on mother’s lap’ is a special plant for its name alone. And the nice thing is, of course, that you will never forget that name once you have seen those ‘children in mother’s lap’ grow. A sweet, easy and strong plant that can be kept both indoors and outdoors.
- Its Latin name is Tolmiea Menziesii
- The plant occurs in the wild as a ground cover in North America
- New leaves grow from the large ‘mother leaves’ and because they grow on the mother sheet, it really seems as if they are growing on ‘mother’s lap’.
- He can also stand in our garden, if it is not freezing too hard. You usually see him (or her, of course) as a houseplant.
- The plant grows to a height of about 30 centimeters and flowers in May and June with inconspicuous, small white flowers
- It should not be in full sun.
- Taking cuttings is very simple: pick a mother leaf with children, cut the mother leaf around the stems as much as possible and put the small plants in the ground. Keep the soil moist, then the ‘children’ will quickly develop roots.
- And then just wait and see when the children will become mothers.
Green finger tips …
- Put a dash of ink or ecoline in a vase with daisies. The white petals discolour, so that the children see how the water is ‘absorbed’ into the petals.
- Sow some cress in a container. The mini plants will appear after a few days. (The children can cut them off and eat them; delicious on a biscuit with cheese.) If you place a toilet roll upright around some of the plants, after a few days you will see that the plants have become much longer in the roll than the other plants; they have done their best to grow towards the light.
- Place a brown bean on a saucer between a piece of damp kitchen paper. Keep it well. After a few days, the bean will sprout. Nice to watch the germination process, to trace and to plant the bean after a while. Add a stick and see how long it gets. With a bit of luck, a flower will arrive and form a pod after a while. The entire cycle in front of you in a short time.
- A sunflower competition for the whole school; each class is allowed to plant one sunflower seed on a sunny part of the schoolyard. After the summer, measure which class has the longest flower. The seeds can be used again to make fat balls for the birds, to glue works of art and of course for next year’s sunflower competition.
- If you forget to throw away the Easter branches (twisting willow), they will be full of roots! Plant them somewhere in a corner, Willows will do almost anywhere if you only give them a little water now and then. Next year you will have enough Easter branches for the entire school. Also handy because willows can be pruned all year round and you can therefore use the branches for a mobile or a mysterious winding wand. (Picking the bark off will leave a nice white twig that you can decorate with a felt-tip pen after drying for a while.)
- A vegetable garden is of course great fun and educational for children. The descriptions are on the bags; carrots, strawberries and tomatoes, for example, are easy to grow. Finally, harvest and feast! Rhubarb can make a big impression because its leaves are huge and corn is also a surprising plant for children.