{"id":37182,"date":"2013-05-28T11:41:53","date_gmt":"2013-05-28T15:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nybg.org\/plant-talk\/?p=37182"},"modified":"2013-05-28T11:44:13","modified_gmt":"2013-05-28T15:44:13","slug":"kid-friendly-annuals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/2013\/05\/tip-of-the-week\/kid-friendly-annuals\/","title":{"rendered":"Kid-Friendly Annuals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sonia Uyterhoeven<\/a> is the NYBG<\/a>‘s Gardener for Public Education.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Dianthus<\/a>
Dianthus barbatus<\/i> ‘Green Ball’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This winter I attended a lecture by Bill Calkins, Retail Business Manager for the Ball Horticultural Company<\/a>, a well-known seed company founded in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century. Its reputation for innovative new introductions and high quality product lines\u2014including Simply Beautiful Gardens<\/a> and Burpee Home Gardens<\/a>\u2014is renowned in the industry.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed Calkins’ lecture not only because it covered an impressive array of new annuals and improved varieties flooding the market, but cast the subject of annuals in a refreshing light. The highlight was his discussion of the Dr. Seuss garden, a child-friendly garden containing fun and bizarre-looking annuals to inspire the imagination. Any initiative to encourage children to explore and engage in the natural world is a good one, so this endeavor sounds really fun. And, after all, who doesn’t like Dr. Seuss’ wild and wacky creations?
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\nThe first annual that Calkins discussed in particular was Dianthus barbatus<\/em> ‘Green Ball’. This groovy, flowering sweet William is not truly an annual\u2014it is a biennial or short-lived perennial\u2014but it is easy to use as an annual in your garden. What is notable about ‘Green Ball’ is its flower; this mutant sweet William produces a soft, mossy, bright green ball in place of a traditional bloom. It is squishy, squeezable, and a tactile delight all around. Not surprisingly, these green pompoms with their sturdy, carnation-esque stem have hit the cut flower industry by storm. Rumor has it that they can last up to four weeks in a vase, though the threat of bacteria build up, not to mention the stench to follow, makes me think keeping any flower in a vase for that long is a bad idea.<\/p>\n

\"Gomphrena<\/a>
Gomphrena<\/i> ‘Fireworks’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another annual with “wow” factor is the best-seller Gomphrena<\/em> ‘Fireworks’. I have seen this globe amaranth grow in popularity over the past few years, and I am not surprised; it is a substantial annual that can easily reach three feet tall with a loose, airy habit. Its globe-like flowers is vivid pink with yellow tips that look like a haze of exploding fireworks. It also has a strong stem, making for a long-lasting cut flower. ‘Fireworks’ is tough and drought-tolerant, loves full sun, and thrives in lean or average garden soil, flowering from early summer into October. It makes for a valuable season-long color burst in your garden. Just remember to pinch back the tips on young plants to create a bushier shape with less sprawl.<\/p>\n

Calkins also recommended Celosia<\/em> ‘Intenz’, just in case ‘Fireworks’ is too subtle. There are three main types or flower shapes of celosia on the market, and they are all worth trying in a child-friendly garden, with plume types that produce feather flowers, spikes that create spires, and the odd-looking crest type that produces wrinkly, wavy, fan-like flowers. Celosia can range from small, compact annuals to substantial three-foot-tall specimens, so make sure you read the label before you snatch up one of these oddballs at your local garden center.<\/p>\n

\"Celosia<\/a>
Celosia<\/i> ‘Intenz’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Celosia are not only low-maintenance, high impact additions to your annual border, but their soft and inviting flowers are great for a tactile garden. This annual is fairly sturdy and many varieties can handle heavy rain and still look great. I would stake the crested varieties to support their large flowers, however. The common name\u2014cockscomb\u2014comes from the crested type’s likeness to a rooster’s comb. ‘Intenz’ reaches 15 – 18 inches high and has showy plumes of violet-pink flowers which are sure to draw attention in your garden.<\/p>\n

There are many fun annuals on the market these days that can inspire your kids to appreciate gardening and nature. In his lecture, Bill Calkins mentioned that a child was twice as likely to appreciate gardening as an adult if they experienced nature first-hand with their parents. That said, annuals are an easy answer for families looking to grow and enjoy their gardens without a huge expense.<\/p>\n

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‘Green Ball<\/a>‘ and ‘Intenz<\/a>‘ images courtesy of Ball Horticulture.
\n‘Fireworks<\/a>‘ image courtesy of Burpee.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Seuss inspires a kid-friendly, tactile garden full of pom-poms and fireworks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[1304,3298,3296,3302,1566,3300,3297,3299,3301,154],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/ph0lU-9FI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37182"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37213,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37182\/revisions\/37213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}