My daughter was probably 5 or 6 when she told me she wanted to change her name.
Parenting doubts sent a shiver down my neck. “To what?”
“Magnolia Forsythia Hyacinth Lynch.”
It was springtime and we were making a lap around the neighborhood. A giant magnolia rained petals of ballerina pink, creating a lacy blanket on fresh green grass. Banks of bright yellow forsythia bounded through the alleyways, and the fragrance of hyacinths potted in front of the town library wafted in the air.
Over the years, home landscape design has run the gamut from lawns and meatball-shaped yews to the studied intricacy of cottage gardens to sweeps of low-maintenance perennials. Garden themes focus on colors, creatures, bulbs, natives, tropicals, herbs, and edibles. There are shade gardens, bog gardens, and rock gardens; evening gardens and fragrance gardens; cutting gardens, heirloom gardens, and apothecary gardens; Japanese gardens and Native American gardens.
Along the way, we’ve discovered that sunflowers are magnets for goldfinches. Bright red salvias are guaranteed to bring hummingbirds to kitchen window boxes. Bee balm attracts (guess what?) bees. Goldenrod will not make you sneeze (that’s ragweed) but it will draw butterflies into your backyard paradise. You may plant roses for your sweetheart, but if you are looking for real estate curb appeal, perhaps drifts of sedums, daylilies, and daffodils will do the trick.
Children aren’t the only reason to plant flowers in your landscape, but I’d venture to say they are the best. And for children, you don’t have to be a purist. The rules are simple:
1. Plant what you like.
2. Plant the right plant in the right place.
No matter what your palette, if you plant it, they will come.
Flowers invite family and friends into a living laboratory, an outdoor classroom, an adventure-filled activity center. They can also create a retreat, a quiet oasis, a private nook for dreaming and creativity, and yes, sometimes a snooze.
There is beauty in the garden when the purple globes of Allium aflatunense ‘Purple Sensation’ burst forth in spring. But when the dried scape and seedhead become a wand for a Halloween princess, something magical takes place. Take one look at Artemisia schmidtiana ‘Silver Mound’ and you will know where the fairies sleep.
The poetry of folklore and the study of languages step into the flower garden and capture childhood imaginations. Just think how intriguing a flower menagerie sounds: snapdragon, turtle head, foxglove, hens and chicks, bear’s britches, horsetail, cranesbill, toadflax, snakeroot, wormwood, leopard’s bane, goatsbeard, lamb’s ear.
For the romantically inclined: love-in-a-mist, bleeding heart, bachelor’s buttons, forget-me-not, kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate, love-lies-bleeding, moonflower, and morning glory.
Just close your eyes and see these names come alive: bearded Iris, black-eyed Susan, Jack in the pulpit, Johnny jump-ups, coral bells, Canterbury bells, bells of Ireland, snow on the mountain, and candytuft. Explain to your favorite youngsters that the word “columbine” comes from the Latin word “columba” meaning “dove.” Then, take a columbine flower, spurs pointing upward, and show them the cluster of doves dancing in a circle.
If that is not enough, switch to science. Bring a magnifying glass into the garden and discover beneficial insects. Check out the cogs on the back of a wheel bug or notice that ladybug larvae look like alligators. Marvel at the way earthworms tunnel through the soil or how a seed smaller than a fingernail can grow into a 6-foot-tall sunflower by summer’s end.
Hollyhocks and rose of Sharon shrubs may seem a bit old-fashioned and dowdy until you learn how to make dolls out of the flowers. A fully furled blossom turned upside down becomes the doll’s skirt, and the flower bud with a bit of stem becomes the doll’s head.
Run across the lawn like the Pied Piper with the kids following behind, releasing the silk and seeds inside ripened milkweed pods. Watch them float through the air on their parachutes. Or weave ribbons around lavender stems, making lavender wand sachets to keep the fragrance of summer in your undergarments drawer.
My daughter grew up in our garden. Now she attends graduate school in London. A few weeks ago, our Skype session veered from classwork and dissertation topics to a beautiful tree she passed on her way to school. Some of the branches were blooming with single white flowers; others, with full, puffy pink flowers. “I’ll send you a picture so we can figure out what it is.”
Sherlock Holmes has nothing on us. I checked the photos. I had read about the practice of gardeners planting two trees in one large planting hole. So, I sent her back to the scene to investigate. Sure enough, there were actually two cherry trees growing side by side, their limbs entwined, creating the vision of both white and pink flowers growing on the same tree. You never know what those Brits will do for a little garden drama — or how far your backyard garden will extend.
Laurie Lynch is a Penn State Master Gardener.
