plants for children

Plant Lists for The

Children Garden

( Kinder - garten )

The following list contains only a few suggestions of plants that children enjoy. They are all easy to grow.

Anise Hyssop	Agastache foeniculum, Agastache 'Blue Fortune' and others	a perennial with bluish flowers that attract butterflies and other insects, and aromatic foliage smelling intensely of licorice and lemon. Leaves can be harvested and dried to make a flavorful tea. In late summer, gold finches fly in to eat the seeds.
Lavender and Sage	Lavendula angustifolia and Salvia officinalis	The fragrances of these two Mediterranean herbs are imprinted in my mind since childhood. I even remember watching the bees on the purple lavender flowers, and my father telling me the name of the plant after I took a deep breath of its aroma. Sage flowers can be picked and the sweet nectar can be sucked out of them, holding the open, tubular base of the flower to your lips. Both also are great for herbal teas, baths, and to flavor food. Do some cooking with your kids!
Curly chives, Chives and Ornamental Onions	Allium senescens 'Glaucum', and other Alliums	this relative of chives has interesting twisted and curled leaves of a bluish-green color, and lots of rounded flowers in the summer that attract insects for your children to look at. The leaves smell like chives and can be eaten or used in the kitchen. Many Alliums have perfectly spherical flowers that kids will always remember in their parents garden, and all attract insects.
Pot Marygold and Marygold	Calendula officinalis, Tagetes	Both have edible flowers and are used to garnish food. Children love their strong yellow and orange colors, and they are very easy to grow from seed, even seeded right into the garden in the spring after frost. Both plants also have an effect of destroying pest nematodes in the soil.
Hosta sieboldiana 'Elegans', Hosta 'Sum and Substance'	large Hostas	Children love to hide under these huge plants, and once in a while break off a few leaves to play with. Hostas are not poisonous and as far as I know, the fleshy roots are eaten in Japan (probably cooked)
Pumpkin and ghostly gourds	Curcurbita	put a few pumpkin seeds in a big pile of horse manure (not too old is actually better) and watch the pumpkin grow. Keep the woodchucks at bay, otherwise they will eat until they become round as pumpkins themselves. Kids are proud if they can carve their own pumpkin for Halloween. Make sure plants are well fertilized and watered to get rewarding pumpkins! I found that Johnny's Selected Seeds has a great variety of plants that work well in the north-east
Sunflowers and Corn	Helianthus annuus, Zea mays	These two crops are great for children to fence their own private garden or screen the playhouse porch. They can be eaten, too! However, don't let the squirrels discover them or the harvest will be gone.
Nasturtium	Tropaeolum majus	These easy to seed colorful annuals are an old standby of the farmers garden, where they provided flower color, were used as an annual groundcover to fill in among other plants, and had the function to lure aphids away from other plants. The edible flowers have a spicy flavor with a bit of a cabbage or raddish aroma. They are used for garnishing salads.
'Hens and Chicks' and Stone Orpine	Sempervivum, Sedum reflexum	These small succulents with interesting, fleshy leaves catch every childs attention. They are not poisonous and very easy to grow on a little rock garden or even in a dish. Kids can use them for the doll house as well. If watering is forgotten a few times, who cares! But help the plants to get rooted in before the neglect can begin!

Edible ornamentals (shrubs and trees):

These great plants can make your kids snack healthy vitamins in your yard, while everybody can enjoy the beauty of the garden at the some time! However, teach your children that not all berries are edible and show them the dangerous ones!

The list will be completed at a later time!

Blueberry 'Northblue', 'Patriot', etc	Vaccinium 'Northblue', Vaccinium corymbosum
Weeping Muleberry	Morus alba 'Pendula'
Korean Dogwood	Cornus kousa
European Dogwood	Cornus mas
Yanking Cherry	Prunus tomentosa
Peach	Prunus persica
Apple 'Haralred', 'Honeycrisp', etc.	Malus
Flowering Quince	Chaenomeles
American Hazelnut	Corylus americana
Beach Rose 'Hansa', 'Purple Pavewment', etc	Rosa rugosa
Elderberry 'Adams', Europ. Elderberry,	Sambucus canadensis, S. nigra	berries have to be boiled! slightly poisonous when raw!

Plants you have to be careful with:

There are many poisonous or otherwise dangerous plants! This list is by no means complete and we recommend doing your own research. However, this list contains plants that we are aware of as being potentially harmful. It is also a good idea to teach your children about the dangers of some plants, such as poisonous berries and leaves, dangerous thorns and the like. If you suspect your child of having eaten poisonous plant parts, contact the poison control center immediately. Make sure you have the number ready when you need it.

I found the following numbers on the internet:

New Hampshire Poison Control Center	(800) 222-1222
Maine Poison Control Center	(800) 442-6305

	Aconitum = Monkshood Monkshood is reputed to be the most poisonous plant of Europe.	This is a beautiful, long-lived garden perennial with stately blue flowers (white and pink also exist). I like to use this impressive plant in shade gardens, where is is irreplaceble for colorful, vertical accent. However, I never would plant it close to a vegetable garden, because a tuber could accidentally be taken for a small potatoe. Eating a tuber would most likely kill someone, and all other parts of this plant are equally poisonous. Monkshood should not be planted where small children are playing!
	Rhizinus communis / Castor Bean	Castor Bean is a tropical plant that is valued for its large, divided leaves. They can be green or purple and make a bold statement in any summer bed or planter. It is easy to grow from seed and once it is warm in late spring, it grows very quickly into a large plant. In a hot summer and with fertile soil, it can easily grow to 6 ft. of height in a few months. The seeds of this plant are lethal! A few seeds would be sufficient to kill even a large animal like a horse. The seeds of this plant are about 1/4 inch in diameter and usually coffee-brown in color, with some darker-colored pattern on it.
shrubs and trees	Boxwood, Yew, Arborvitae, Japanese Spurge, Mountain Laurel, Rhododendron, Japanese Andromeda, Daphne	Many woody plants that are evergreen have poisonous leaves. Other parts can be poisonous too. Call poison control center if ingestion occurred.
woody plants of the pea family	Wisteria, Golden Chain Tree, Kentucky Coffee Tree, Locusts, ...	Many shrubs and trees of the pea family, with typical pea flowers, have poisonous seeds. Like peas, the seeds are in pods that look like beens. The pods are often light or dark brown.
garden perennials and biannuals	Monkshood (Aconitum, see above), Delphinium, Foxgloves (Digitalis), Lupine (Lupinus), Daffodil (Narcissus), Peonies (Paeonia), Lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria) and many more	many perennials have poisonous parts or are entirely poisonous. For example, the seeds and seed pods of lupines are poisonous, the flowers and fruit of peonies, and the entire plant of Foxgloves and Delphiniums. thousands of plants are just slightly poisonous, causing vomiting or headaches, etc.
vegetables	Potatoes, Green Beans	Potatoes are poisonous if they store in light. Cooking destroys the poison, but green skin should first be peeled away. The small, tomato-like fruit of the potato plant is very poisonous. Green Beans are poisonous when eaten raw.
house plants	Dieffenbachia, Philodendron, Anthurium, Zantedeschia, Angels's Trumpet (Brugmansia and Datura), ...	many house plants are poisonous in various degrees

PS: Bring your children to Green Art

Home

Sculpting with

Stone

Painting with

Flowers

Shaping the Earth

Nursery

Other

Artwork

Directions

Contact

Please ask for our permission if you would like to use any of our photos, graphics or text!