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Planting Bulbs
Plant some bulbs now, add a little water and cool temperatures, wait several months for the first warming rays of the springtime sun, and, voila — a little magic occurs! A beautiful, vibrantly hued flower garden emerges out of the earth.
Flowering bulbs can create spectacular year-round displays in our landscapes, but spring-flowering bulbs such as crocus, daffodils, and hyacinths, have a special place in our hearts. These cheerful bloomers signal the arrival of warmer weather and longer days, but to enjoy them next spring, you must plant now before the ground freezes. This month we explore bulbs and offer ideas and inspiration for incorporating them into your indoor curriculum or gardening programs.
Planting Bulbs Outdoors
Forcing Bulbs Indoors
Bulbs Powerful Little Teaching Tools
Fostering Community Spirit with Bulbs
Lesson Ideas
Bulbs 101: Garden Design - Plan a bulb garden for your schoolyard.
Bulb Races - Practice math skills while planting a bulb garden.
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and more.
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Find
Fruitful Classroom Exchanges
Connect
your students with classrooms that garden in another hemisphere,
or find garden buddies close
by that
you
didn't
know
were there!
There are many e-mail pals listed in our School
Garden Registry. Below are some highlights:
Strawtown Elementary School (NY)
Interested in information about how to start a garden education program in grades K-5.
Gladys A. Abraham Elementary (Virgin Islands)
Would like to exchange habitat and experimental data with other classrooms.
Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Sacramento (CA)
Would like ideas from other successful garden programs.
Homer Flex High School (AK)
Interested in exchanging information about growing vegetables in the fall, winter, and spring.
Southern Boone County R-1 (MO)
Interested in exchanging ideas and experiences related to building school greenhouses (size, design, etc.), developing an overall garden design/master plan, conducting program evaluation and documentation, using the garden to enhance classroom learning objectives, and making the garden as student-led as possible.
Maplewood Elementary (IN)
Would like to exchange seeds, tools, and experimental data.
Brooklyn College (NY)
Interested in ideas for educating high school students through gardening and how gardens can fit in to sustainability and civic engagement initiatives in higher education settings.
Additional New Schools Interested in Email Pal Exchanges:
Poughkeepsie High School (NY)
Dayton Avenue School (NY)
Point Dume Marine Science School (CA)
If your garden or habitat is not already represented in this international
database, register it now!
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Featured
Book: GrowLab Activities for Growing Minds
Whether you're growing in a greenhouse, in a GrowLab® Indoor Light Garden, or on a windowsill, Activities for Growing Minds will help spark students' curiosity about plants and invite them to think and act like scientists. Learn
more and order here.
Fundraise
with Flower Bulbs: Earn 50% Profit  Looking
for a "healthy" and alluring option for raising funds for
your school? NGA endorses the Flower
Power Program. It features easy-to-grow spring-flowering
bulbs and is a good deal to boot; your school gets to keep
50% of the profits. Click
here to learn more.
More
Garden Activities
and Lessons
Mountain Adventures
This curriculum is designed to introduce students in grades 5-8 to the role and importance of native plants in the United States and abroad.
Preserving Buds and Blooms: Drying Summer's Hues
Want to keep summer with you all year long? This classroom project shares methods for drying flowers along with ideas for classroom lesson connections.
Cultivating Literacy in the Garden
A collection of articles highlighting how educators have created garden-based writing opportunities and used children's fiction to exercise imaginations, inspire growing projects, and improve literacy skills. |
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© 2009
National Gardening Association