Summer Activity: How Do Your Garden Friends Grow?

A frequent family visitor to my garden on a summer morning.

A tiny garden, a whole farm--size doesn't matter. Creating a lovely habitat for garden critters (including yourself) is a dynamic way to love a summer.

Butterflies, bees, lizards. hummingbirds all become part of the family when you live part of your summer outside in a garden. Kids thrive just like the rollie pollies Pill Bug (Rollie Pollie) http://www.bugfacts.net/pill-bug.php#.U7MWF7GmV5M in a well mulched garden plot. Morning sunrise is a lovely time to see how the garden and its inhabitants are doing. Bird Song Hero http://biology.allaboutbirds.org/bird-song-hero/ Later, during a lunch picnic, your kids' butterfly family will flutter by. Butterflies and Moths of North America http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/

How to Create a Butterfly Garden in a Pot

http://www.hgtv.com/gardening/how-to-create-a-butterfly-garden-in-a-pot/index.html

Kids quickly learn most garden dwellers are not dangerous and are deserving of respect. Kids have a serious vested interest in the environment and can make positive contribution through loving your local bees. Help save our bee population with this easy DIY project!http://www.care2.com/greenliving/help-the-bees-with-this-diy-bee-water-garden.html

Extra credit! Helping bees and growing mint for Mom's summer tea.

A garden is an adventurous place, an eco-system alive and active. Kids know when to leave it alone and just observe. Anyone who eats black widow spiders is welcome in my garden, and these mojave

lizards really love it. They are characters that can win a staring contest. When claiming their territory, they do push ups. It is also good to know what else might be in your garden that's not so innocuous. Living With Wild Reptiles and Amphibians

http://www.californiaherps.com/info/livingwithherps.html 

A garden attracts an exciting variety of birds--your kid will be just as excited about the bird feeder as old great Aunt Maxine--and they will have a lot to talk about! Hummingbirds are curious, funny friends in the garden, finches keep a regular schedule of feeder visits, and around here we even get the occasional roadrunner (beep beep.) Ravens here are so regular in their habits, you can name them.

Backyard Bird Identifier http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birding/backyard-bird-identifier/

 

The Unloved.

The Loved.

Kids love bugs. Digging around in the garden doing maintenance can transport a child into the marvelous world in the dirt, on the plants. The interrelated lives of garden insects. Good Garden Bugs, the Ten Most Wanted http://www.clean-organized-family-home.com/garden-bugs-good.html#sthash.DE8v0D2E.dpbs 

 

Loving those worms, lacewings, pillbugs, kids joining all the community of the garden.

This is my favorite post, probably because it reminds me of so many lovely visits to the garden. 

Keeping Butterflies, Bees and Hummingbirds Happy 

http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2014/05/summer-activity-keeping-butterflies.html?spref=bl 

 

Good Garden Bugs: The 10 Most Wanted

Good Garden Bugs: The 10 Most Wanted

 

 

 

Summer Activity: Where Is That Flower From?

Flowers originate from all around the world. I've always wanted to have a flower from every continent--I've succeeded except for Antarctica. It's fun for everyone to identify where our garden friends are from.

This flower is indigenous to Mexico, also called the Mexican aster. Buenos días, hermosa flor.

This summer I purchased packets of wildflower seeds--and cosmos was included. I have also purchased cosmos in  flats, and even gallon containers with larger plants. Here are the basic three colors, white, pink, red, and occasionally, some combinations of colors.

This blossom was a surprise one beautiful summer's morning. But it is unusual, cosmos generally has a solid color, even if a blend of red and white creating some tint of pink or purple. This white blossom looks like a child got creative with a Crayola marker.

Bees love these flowers, butterflies, too. Cosmos is often included in seed packets for Butterfly Gardens. They have long delicate stems and the flowers poke out their faces like a curious kid. They are easy to grow.

Here is a post I put up using the name Cosmos as a play on words linking to a William Blake poem.


The Cosmos in a Cosmos
http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2012/06/cosmos-in-cosmos.html?spref=bl