My Science School

The Garden of Talking Flowers

Alice came upon a large flower bed with a border of daisies and a willow tree growing in the middle.

“O Tiger-lily”, said Alice, addressing herself to one that was waving gracefully about in the wind. “I wish you could talk!”

“We can talk,” said the Tiger-lily, “when there’s anybody worth talking to.”

Alice was so astonished that she could not speak for a minute. It quite seemed to take her breath away. At length, as the Tiger-lily only went on waving about, she spoke again, in a timid voice - almost in a whisper. “And can all the flowers talk?”

“As well as you can,” said the Tiger-lily. “And a great deal louder.”

“It isn’t manners for us to begin, you know,” said the Rose, “and I really was wondering when you’d speak! Said I to myself, ‘Her face has got some sense in it, though it’s not a clever one!”

Then Tiger-lily remarked, “If only her petals curled up a little more, she’d be all right.” Alice didn’t like being criticized, so she began asking questions. “Aren’t you sometimes frightened at being planted out here with nobody to take care of you?”

“There’s the tree in the middle,” said the Rose. “What else is it good for?”

“But what could it do, if any danger came?”

“It says, ‘Bough-wough!’” cried a Daisy. “That’s why its branches are called boughs!”

“Didn’t you know that?” cried another Daisy, and here they all began shouting together, till the air seemed quite full of little shrill voices. “Silence, every one of you!” cried the Tiger-lily, waving itself passionately from side to side and trembling with excitement. “They know I can’t get at them!” it panted, bending its quivering head towards Alice, “or they wouldn’t dare to do it!”

“Never mind!” Alice said in a soothing tone and stooping down at the Daisies, who were just beginning again, she whispered, “If you don’t hold your tongues, I’ll pick you!”

There was silence in a moment, and several of the pink daisies turned white.

“That’s right!” said the Tiger-lily. “The daisies are worst of all. When one speaks, they all begin together, and it’s enough to make one wither to hear the way they go on!”

“How is it you can all talk so nicely?” Alice said, hoping to get it into a better temper by a compliment. “I’ve been in many gardens before, but none of the flowers could talk.”

“Put your hand down and feel the ground,” said the Tiger-lily. ‘Then you’ll know why.”

Alice did so. “It’s very hard,” she said, “but I don’t see what that has to do with it.”

“In most gardens,” the Tiger-lily said, “they make the beds too soft - so that the flowers are always asleep.”

This sounded like a very good reason, and Alice was quite pleased to know it.

Picture Credit : Google

Year-After-Year Flowers

Some flowers don’t have to be planted every year. You plant them just once and leave them in the ground. From then on, they bloom each year. Tulips, for example, have beautiful cup-shaped flowers that bloom each year. Lilies have blade-shaped petals and showy stamens.

Plants that bloom every year are called perennials. Many perennials grow from bulbs or from bulb-like parts called corms. Bulbs are underground buds. They are made up of a small stem covered with thick, fleshy leaves. Onions, tulips, and lilies grow from bulbs. Corms are very similar to bulbs, but their leaves are smaller and thinner. Crocuses and gladioli grow from corms.

Most bulbs and corms should be planted in the autumn. But the package they come in will tell you the best time to plant them.

Many perennials need protection during winter. The package your seeds or bulbs come in, or a gardening book, will tell you what to do for each kind.

Picture Credit : Google

One-Year Flowers

Most flowers that people plant in the spring are annuals. Annuals are plants that live only one growing season. They sprout from seeds that are planted in the spring. In the summer, their flowers grow and make seeds. In the autumn, the plants die. Gardeners save the seeds or buy new seeds to plant in spring.

You can buy packages of flower seeds at many shops. Or you can buy small plants that have been grown from seeds in a greenhouse. The seed package or a label on the plant container will tell you when and how to plant.

Picture Credit : Google

An Edible Garden

The ancient Greeks loved radishes so much they made gold ornaments that looked like them and offered these golden radishes to their sun god, Apollo.

Nothing tastes quite so good as radishes or other food you have grown yourself. To grow some, you will need a small patch of flat ground that gets plenty of sunshine.

Cucumbers and courgettes grow well on stakes. They will climb up a grate or trellis. Beans are good climbing plants, too.

You can grow potatoes by cutting up a potato and planting the pieces. Make sure each piece you plant has a tiny bud, or eye, on it.

Endive, lettuce, and cabbage are popular leaf vegetables. Many people grow rhubarb, which will come up by itself year after year and grows well in shady spots. The plants that are beautiful as well as tasty include aubergines, sweet potatoes, and many kinds of peppers.

Picture Credit : Google

Outdoor Gardens

Planting an outdoor garden is great fun! It’s a real thrill to watch little green sprouts come poking up from the places where you planted seeds.

What kind of garden do you want? A garden full of crunchy, delicious vegetables? Or a flower garden with colours and scents to delight you? All you need for an outdoor garden is a small patch of ground. Ask an adult to help you find a good spot.

Most gardens do best in sunny spots. Plants that love sunshine include yuccas, geraniums, and yarrows. If you live where it’s hot and dry for much of the year, you can grow euphorbias and cactuses.

But you can also plant a garden in a shady spot. You just have to choose plants that like shade. Hostas, impatiens, begonias, and ferns all are shade-loving plants.

You can buy seeds or bulbs for all kinds of plants. If the seeds are very tiny, you can plant them on a tray of soil indoors. Cover them lightly with soil and water them. Keep them in a warm place but out of direct sunlight. The small plants can be planted outside when they are big enough for you to handle.

To give your garden the best possible start, you have to prepare the ground first. Pull up all the weeds. Weeds are any plants that are not wanted in your garden. Then dig and rake the ground to loosen the soil. Mark off rows for the seeds or plants. To make holes for seeds, push a pointed stick into the ground. To put in small plants, you’ll need a trowel. Use it like a big spoon to scoop out holes. Gently cover the seeds or roots with soil.

Water the garden until the soil is damp but not muddy. The best time to water is in the evening or early morning. That way, the sun won’t dry up the water before it soaks into the soil.

By early summer, garden plants are usually growing well, but so are the weeds! You can either pull up weeds by hand, or gently scrape small weeds from the ground with a hoe.

When it’s time to harvest, your garden will reward you for all your hard work. Colourful flowers look pretty in a vase. And tasty fruits and vegetables are popular at mealtime!

Picture Credit : Google

Herb Garden

Herbs make great tea, add flavour to foods, soothe aches, relieve illnesses, and smell nice. How would you like to have fresh herbs at your fingertips? You can by growing a herb garden.

If you live where it’s sunny and dry, try growing borage or marjoram outside. Herbs such as chives, chervil, lemon balm, and mint grow well in shady places.

You can also grow herbs in pots, either outdoors or on window sills. Basil, savory, cilantro, and rosemary are just a few of the herbs that grow well this way.

Dry your own Herbs

Many herbs are delicious when eaten fresh. But you can also dry some to use later.

What to do:

1. Use rubber bands to fasten the stems of your fresh herbs in bunches


2. Tie the bunches onto hangers with kitchen string.


3. Hang the hangers in a warm, dry place for about a week, or until the leaves crumble easily.


4. Store your dried herbs in jars or bottles. Label the jars so you know which herb is in each one.

Picture Credit : Google

Would you like to have an indoor garden of your very own? One way to do it is to buy house plants. Philodendrons, sanseveria, jades, and rubber plants, which grow wild in tropical areas, make good house plants. These plants don’t need much light - just a warm room, a little water, and a dusting now and then.

You can but house plants on a window sill or table near plenty of sunlight. Keep the soil damp, but not muddy. Flower pots have holes in them to let water seep out, so put a dish under each pot to catch the water. If your plants grow bigger, you can move them to bigger pots!

You can grow plants in clean tin cans or cottage-cheese cartons. Ask a grown-up to put a few small holes in the bottom of these home-made pots. Plants such as ivy or philodendrons look great in glass bowls. But a glass bowl must have a little gravel at the bottom to catch the water that seeps out of the soil.

Picture Credit : Google

Outside, gardens may be small patches or very big orchards. Vegetables and berries grow ripe and juicy. Flowers bloom in amazing colours. They brighten window boxes and lure butterflies to pots on porches, window ledges, and balconies.

Start a garden inside and you have even more nature to enjoy. Potted greens are bright and lovely. Herbs offer smell and taste sensations, and when dried, last even longer. Terrariums can hold what look like tiny jungles.

Each and every garden is unique and it will take time to learn the ins and outs and secrets of your own little plot of land.

Picture Credit : Google

Do you ever wonder exactly how plants live and grow? Have you ever taken a flower apart to see what was inside it? If so, maybe someday you’ll want to work with plants.

Botanists study plants. They look at the features of plants and where and how plants grow. Botanists may study plants in their natural environment, such as in the water, or in the desert, or they may work in a laboratory.

Chemists often study ways to make new products from plants. They are the people who have invented things like cellophane, a clear, smooth wrapping for food. Margarine face creams, and many other useful products also are made from plants.

Agronomists are scientists who help farmers raise food to feed people around the world. They discover ways to make plants grow larger and healthier. They study the soil to help it grow more things. They find new ways of controlling weeds.

Gardeners, landscape gardeners, and other workers plant and care for the flowers and trees you see in parks, zoos, wildlife reserves, and gardens. Gardeners and landscapers also work for towns and cities. They plant and care for the trees, bushes, and beds of flowers along streets and around many public buildings. Some gardeners grow plants and bulbs for sale. People buy them for their own homes and gardens.

A florist is a gardener and an artist combined. Florists sell plants and flowers. They also make the beautiful bouquets you see on special occasions.

Photographers and artists can work with plants, too. Pictures of plants are often used in magazines, calendars, and books. And specially trained artists can paint pictures of plants that look as real as photographs

Picture Credit : Google