00News for Schools from the Smithsonian Institution. Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Washington. D,C, 20560

March/April 1983

The Children Raised Kale: A Story of Growingand Growing ... from Seed to Maturity

• • •

At the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum, Zora Felton and students admire a tomato they have grown.

Last spring, Zora Felton of the Smithsonian's An~­

costia Neighborhood Museum embarked upon a proJ­ect that grew . . . and grew. . and grew. The projectwas a garden, planted and tended by elementary schoolchildren in a vacant lot next door to the Museum. Thechildren raised kale and broccoli, potatoes, petunias,marigolds, and tomatoes-from seed to matu~ty­

while gaining experience in such basic science skIlls .asobservation, identification, classification, and descnp­tion. They also learned about the parts of plants andhow plants grow. And they enjoyed the satisfac~ion ofactually seeing, and tasting, the results of theIr hor­ticulturallabors.

Now you can-in your school classroom and nearb~

community-provide a similar down-to-earth expen­ence for your students. Although the children will not,according to our lesson plan, actually plant an,d harvest'arr-omci:uor -gaTtfen,-,h-ey witl'have''the'opportontry 'to'

grow some plants of their own and lear.n basically t?esame skills and concepts as the AnacostIa students dId.But before we begin our lesson, here, for you to famil­iarize yourself with, are some essential "gardeningfacts."

Gardening FactsWhat a Garden Is. A garden is a plot of land whereflowers, vegetables, or herbs (often shrubs and trees aswell) are planted and cared for. Gardens are grown allover the world: in deserts and rainforests, on seacoastsand mountaintops, and many places in between-wher­ever there are people to enjoy them. In size, a gardenmay be as small as a tabletop or as big as a footballstadium, and even much bigger.

The very biggest gardens in this country are usually"public," including botanical gardens, arboretums, andparks, where you often can see a wide variety of plantsgrown under the very best conditions. In botanical gar­dens and arboretums (which have as their purpose pub­lic education and scientific research), the plants aregenerally labeled so that visitors can learn to identifythem. The difference between botanical gardens andarboretums is this: botanical gardens usually grow allkinds of plants (both woody and nonwoody), whereasarboretums tend to specialize in shrubs and trees. Also,unlike arboretums, botanical gardens often have elabo­rate greenhouses, where many species of plants-in­cluding exotic ones from the tropics-are exhibitedyear round. Parks, for their part, serve a recreationalfunction for visitors. This is why many parks havepicnic benches, playground equipment, and runningpaths in addition to plantings. The smaller gardens wesee everyday are usually "private"-that is, owned andcared for by an individual or a family. Some privategardens grow only vegetables; others gr?w o.nlYflowers; still others, like the one at the AnacostlaNelgh­borhood Museum, grow both vegetables and flowers inthe same space.

The History ofGardens. Although nobody knows forsure when the world's first garden was planted, we doknow that the art and the science of gardening go backfor many thousands ofyears. Soon after people stoppedliving as nomadic hunters and began to settle down inpermanent homes and villages, they started cultivatingplants for beauty and food. The ancient Chinese wereavid gardeners as were the Persians, the Greeks, theAssyrians, and the Romans. And right down throughthe ages and up until today, the garden has persisted as

an important part of our cultural heritage. For the es­sential truth still remains that even the smallest gardenin the heart of the city can help us make that vitalconnection between the human and the natural worlds.

Over the years, there have been changing styles ingardens just as there have been changing styles in archi­tecture and clothing; and garden styles have also variedfrom one part of the world to another. This is becausegardens, to a large degree, reflect the values and atti­tudes of the people who create them. Nelson Adams'article on "formal" and "natural" gardens (see pagethree of this issue ofArt to Zoo) should help you see howthis is so.

The Parts and Kinds of Seed-Bearing GardenPlantsScientifically speaking, the entire plant kingdom is di­vided into two enormous groups. These groups are theSEED-BEARING and the SPORE-BEARING plants. Seed­bearing plants include trees, flowers, and most vegeta­bles. Spore-bearing plants include ferns, mushrooms,and mosses. The fundamental difference between thesetwo groups of plants lies in the way they reproduce:(l) by seeds (as you will see below), in the case of theseed-bearers, and (2) by primitive, usually one-celled,bodies called "spores," in the case of the spore­bearers. Although many gardens contain ferns andother spore-bearers, we shall confine our particulardiscussion of garden plants strictly to the far more prev­alent of the two groups: the SEED-BEARERS.

Six Basic Plant Parts. All seed-bearing plants, fromthe tallest trees to the tiniest flowers, have these sixparts:

• Roots, under the ground, serve to anchor the plant.Roots also take in and store the nourishment that theplant needs to live.

• Stems support the branches, leaves, and flowers ofthe plant and act as a "pipeline" to carry food materialsup and down the plant.

• Leaves, which may grow from either the stem or thebase of the plant, serve to catch sunlight and carbondioxide from the atmosphere, which act on a greencoloring matter called chlorophyl to make the starchand sugar that feed the plant.

• Flowers are the reproductive organs of the plant.Some seed-bearing plants, like lilies and roses, haveflowers that are big and showy. Other seed-bearers, likemaple trees and holly bushes, have flowers that arebarely noticeable. But all seed-bearing plants do haveflowers of one sort or another, no matter how in­conspicuous they may be. Some of these flowers havemale sex organs; others have female sex organs; stillothers have both male and female sex organs. Thefemale sex organ (or pistil) of a flower contains a tinyembryo; the male sex organ (or stamen) is covered witha powdery yellow substance called pollen. Pollen maybe carried from a male flower to a female flower bycertain insects (such as bees) or by the wind. The pollenfalls down the pistil of the flower and combines with theembryo, resulting in fertilization.

• Fruits and seeds are the products of fertilization.When fertilized with pollen, the embryo inside theflower becomes a seed ... and the pistil of the flowermatures into a fruit, which provides protection andnourishment for the seed. The seeds of a plant areextremely precious, for indeed, the whole purpose of aflower is to produce many seeds, which will eventuallyproduce new plants.

continued on page two

continued from page one

flowers versus vegetables and herbs

annuals versus perennials and bulbs

5. Back in your classroom, discuss with students thevarious categories of seed-bearing plants explained inthis issue of Art to Zoo, as well as the informationpresented in the section above on "Environmental Fac­tors to Consider in Planning a Garden." Then have thechildren use seed catalogs and books such as the Time/Life volume Annuals (listed in the bibliography at theend of this article) to identify and classify the plantsthey have documented on theirworksbeets. In additionto writing down the popular name of the plant, eachstudent should also indicate whether the specimen is aflower,. an herb, a tree, a shrub, or a vegetable ...woody or nonwoody ... an annual, a perennial, or abulb. And the children should also describe the specificenvironmental conditions that each ofthe plants needsin order to grow.

2. Next explain to the children the difference (as out­lined in this issue of Art to Zoo) between seed-bearingand spore-bearing plants ... and tell them that all of thegarden plants. they will now be studying are seed­bearers. Remind them that trees are seed-bearers, asare shrubs, flowers, and vegetables. Then pass around,for the class to examine, some examples of the commonplant seeds that the children may recognize; avocado,tomato, orange, and cucumber would make a good se­lection. Finally, using a flowering potted plant as anexample, point out the six basic parts of seed-bearingplants, describing the function of each part. Have thechildren take notes on this discussion for future refer­ence.

3. Now find a suitable garden, public or private, to visitwith your class. Preferably this garden will have a vari­ety of plants in bloom at the time of your visit; however,ifyou live in a cold climate where few things bloom out­of-doors until June, a satisfactory alternative to a gar­den might be a commercial nursery with a greenhouse.Many commercial nurseries welcome visits fromschool groups, and some even provide educational leaf­lets and guided tours.

At any rate, be sure to call your chosen facility at leasta week ahead of time to arrange for your visit. And rightbefore you go, remind your students about these twofine points of garden etiquette:

ONE. Stick to the garden paths, avoiding the flowerbeds.

TWO. Do not pick the flowers, unless invited to byyour host!

4. Upon arriving at the garden, give the children a briefintroductory tour ofthe entire facility (ifthe garden is ofa manageable size) or of one or two particular sections(if the garden is very large and divided into severalparts). And in the course of this tour, have each studentchoose-and note down the location of-five differentplants that he or she would like to find out more about.. Then on a worksheet like the one shown here (with its

first column filled in to show how) have each childrecord the following information for each one of theplants that he or she has selected:• the overall shape of the plant• the shape of the flower(s) or buds, if the plant is in

bloom or in bud• the shape of the leaves• the color of the flowers and of the leaves• the approximate height of the plant (in centimeters)• the location of the plant (in full sun, partial sun, or

shade).

Next have the children try to define each one of thekinds of plants listed, by thinking of important visiblecharacteristics shared by all of the members of thatparticular plant group. "Trees," for example, are rela­tively tall and have trunks and branches of wood."Flowers," for their part, are generally much shorterthan trees and sport showy (often colorful) parts calledblossoms. Both trees and flowers corne in many differ­ent shapes and sizes and have green parts called leaves.Now have the youngsters find pictures in old magazinesand seed catalogs of many different examples of trees,shrubs, vegetables, and flowers; and arrange these pic­tures on the bulletin board in their appropriate catego­ries.

This is a cross-section diagram of one kind of flowerhaving both male and female parts. Other kinds offlowers with both male and female parts may havethe parts arranged differently.

flowersshrubsvegetablestrees

LESSON: The Parts and Kinds of Garden Plantsand How They Grow1. After discussing with your students the Art to Zoomaterial you have read on "what a garden is" and "thehistory of gardens," give the children a chance to de­scribe briefly some gardens they themselves have seenand admired. Were the gardens public or private? Whatkinds of plants were grown there? Now make a list onthe chalkboard of the kinds (or categories) of gardenplants that the children are familiar with. For the timebeing, this list will probably be limited to:

Developing a Teaching ApproachOnce you have familiarized yourselfwith all of the infor­mation on gardens outlined above, you will be ready todevelop a teaching approach in line with your curricu­lum objectives. The lesson plan that follows-on "TheParts and Kinds of Garden Plants and How TheyGrow"-is strongly science-oriented; but as an alterna­tive, you might yourself develop an art or social studieslesson on garden design, based on some of the othermaterials from this issue of Art to Zoo.

many other plants are every bit as critical, althoughmuch less obvious. Gardening books, seed catalogs,and even the backs of seed packets have useful informa­tion as to what will do well where.

Then once you have decided which plants will thrivein your particular part of the country, you need to con­sider the exact site of the garden you are planning.Whether the garden is to be located in a high and dryspot or a low and marshy spot and how many hours ofsunlight it will receive each day will also determine yourchoice of plantings.

Soil is another factor to consider in selecting plantstock for your garden. Even so, you do have someflexibility here, for the quality ofgarden soil can alwaysbe improved upon to suit your particular gardeningneeds better.

Soil consists usually of tiny rock partides in variousstages of weathering, mixed with a quantity of decayedleaves or other organic matter (called humus). The soilcharacteristics having the greatest bearing on plantgrowth are three:• Texture-which determines how fast the water drainsaway. Soil that is too "light" (sandy) will not hold mois­ture and fertilizer. Soil that is too "heavy" (clayey) willnot allow moisture or air to penetrate it, inhibiting thegrowth of plant roots. The texture of soil can be im­proved by adding things like leaf mold or peat moss.• Fertility-which means the degree ofconcentration ofsoil nutrients. Most garden soils need to have nutrientsadded every year. Three chemical elements-nitrogen(which makes plants lush and green), phosphorus(which stimulates wot growth and flowering and givesyoung plants more energy), and potassium {whichstrengthens plants' sterns and helps plants resist dis­eases and survive cold weather)-are deficient in mostgardens. These elements can be found in both organicand chemical fertilizers.• Acidity-which means how "sweet" or "sour" thesoil is. On a scale oro (very sour) to 14 (very sweet), thepH (acidity) factor should be between 6.0 and 6.8 formost garden plants. Gardeners use lime to sweeten soiland sulfur to make it more sour.

Tending the garden at the Anacostia NeighborhoodMuseum was sometimes a lot of work.

#5#4#3#2#1

PLANT WORKSHEET

Sketch of ,plant

Sketch of

~flower{s} (ifpresent)

Sketch of ,leaf

Color of greenflowers and Ie.lVesof leaves yellow

flol'krsApproximate 2' (orheight of 61 anti',plant meters)

Location ofplant {sun or SOrlshade}

woody versus nonwoody species

When used to define a type of plant, the term "flower"means a plant grown especially for its blossoms, where­as the term "vegetable" means a plant grown especiallyfor a particular part that people like to eat (such as theroot in the case of a carrot), and the term "herb" meansa plant grown especially for its medicinal, savory, oraromatic qualities. Furthermore, as we've alreadyseen, all seed-bearing plants-including flowers, vege­tables, trees, shrubs, and herbs-have parts called"flowers."

The terms "annual" and "perennial" refer to the life­span of a plant. An annual is a plant that completes itsentire life cycle in just one growing season: a seed isplanted and sprouts up, the plant grows to maturity,flowers, produces seeds of its own, and dies, all in thespace of a single year. Because annuals live for such ashort time, they must put forth many seeds in order fortheir species to survive in the long run; and in order tomanufacture a lot of seeds, they must produce a lot offlowers. Therefore, most annuals tend to bloom ... andbloom ... and bloom, throughout the growing season."Perennials," on the other hand, which live for threeyears or more, can afford to produce fewer seeds inorder to survive in the long run and therefore have amuch shorter growing season than do annuals. Yougenerally can count on a perennial's corning up everyyear and blooming for several weeks in the spring,summer, or falL "Bulbs," in a class oftheir own, are likeperennials in that they will corne up every year if left inthe ground through the winter. The special thing about abulb, however, is a fleshy underground part of its stern(also called a "bulb") which stores food in the winterand protects the plant that has formed inside it.

The terms "woody" and "nonwoody" refer to thepersistence of a plant's sterns and branches. "W ';,plants (including trees, shrubs, and some virv< esterns and branches made from tough, haratlssue,which lives on and on from year to year, including thewinter, when the plant may be dormant. "Nonwoody"plants, on the other hand, never develop this persistentwoody tissue. Instead the sterns and branches of thenonwoody plant die back in the winter, even when (as inthe case of a bulb or a perennial) the root of the plantremains alive.

Laying the Groundwork: EnvironmentalFactors to Consider in Planning a GardenAll seed-bearing plants have three basic requirementsfor successful growth: water, sunlight, and nutrients inthe soil.

The degree to which these three things are needed bya plant varies, however, from species'to species. Someplants need a lot of sunlight, whereas others do best inthe shade. Some plants need water almost every daythroughout the growing season, whereas others can gofor weeks at a time without a single drop ofrain. Someplants need a heavy concentration of soil nutrients,whereas others do best in a much "poorer" soil.

Because of these wide variations, it is absolutely es­sential in planning a garden to consider first the en­vironmental conditions where you live-and then todetermine which plants will do well naturally in yourregion. Although nearly everybody knows that cactuseswill not grow in a swamp and that marsh grass will notthrive on the desert,the environmental requirements of

Kinds (or Categories) of Seed-bearing Plants. Theenormous variety of plants grown in gardens may becategorized in any number of ways; however, there arecertain ways that might be most useful for your studentsto know about. These are as follows:

continued on page four

Two Design Attitudes: Formal and Naturalby NELSON ADAMS

/~~~··~11

Formal garden at Longwood Gardens, KennettSquare, Pennsylvania.

A topiary is a tree or shrub that has been clippedinto a fancy, often whimsical, shape. The topiaryhorses, riders, and hounds shown in this photographare from the Ladew Topiary Gardens in Monkton,Maryland.

Two major traditions, formal and natural-make up themost important part of our European heritage in parkand garden design. And both of these traditions, whenyou dig below the surface, reflect the values and atti­tudes of the people who created them. Let's see howthis is so.

Gardens TodayEven today our gardens and parks reflect these twostyles, formal and natural. For example, the NationalMall in Washington, D.C., with its monuments andmemorials, is basically a two-mile-long formal park,with some adjacent areas planted in a more naturalstyle. Even our small private gardens derive from thesetwo major characteristics in garden design; and in fact,the formal and natural styles seem to set the boundariesand define the terms for all our thinking about gardenslarge and small.

Look around your community for the influences ofthese two styles, as well as for the many varieties ofgarden design. What clues can you find-in the choicesand preferences you see-to your own and your neigh­bors' personal values, ideals, and ways of having a goodtime?

Natural GardensBy the late 1700s the rigidity and rationalism of theformal garden began to lose favor, and a new styleevolved called the natural garden. However, this kind ofgarden-although, when finished, it looked as if it hadjust "naturally" happened-wasn't really natural at all!Indeed, it was just as carefully planned and laid out,with this element here and that element there, as theformal garden had ever been.

But by now the emphasis had shifted from controllingand organizing nature to re-creating it. For example,maybe your garden would consist of rolling hills, aflowing stream, patches of woods with wildflowersnearby, and a quaint wooden bridge overthe stream. Nomatter that you had started, perhaps, with a flat terrainand no stream; you simply could create the requiredfeatures where nature had neglected to do so!

The beginning of the natural garden movement camesomewhat before the Romantic movement in literatureand the arts-and you can see the Romantic belief in anidealized nature reflected in the natural garden. TheRomantics believed that nature was inherently good,and that man's manipulation of it into artificial formssuch as seen in the formal garden could only corruptand debase it. Another Romantic hallmark of the natu­ral garden was to encourage a wider range of emotionalresponse from people. Natural gardens, with their sunand shade, still and rushing water, open spaces andhidden glens and even counterfeit Roman ruins, re­flected the many moods of both nature and man.

Formal GardensThe development offormafgardens, as private pleasuregardens of the wealthy, began in the Renaissance andcarried through into the late 1700s. Gardens ofthis stylewere laid out in carefully ordered geometric shapes(especially squares, circles, and ovals), which were em­bellished over the years to include all sorts offancy andstylish devices from topiaries to mazes (see the illustra­tions on this page).

One important concept of the formal garden was thatof the "vista," or view. Often a garden would be de­signed so that from a particular vantage point, all theeye would see was ordered, rational, and arranged bythe hand of man. All of the elements of nature would bethere: trees, flowers, shrubs, and vines, as well asbodies of water with ducks and geese. The design of thevista required the eye to be drawn to some focal point inthe distance, perhaps a sculpture, a small building, atopiary, or a fountain, which would provide an endpointto the view.

Activities in formal gardens included strolling, so­cializing, and people quietly congratulating themselveson having imposed so much reason and unimpassionedorder upon a once unruly (and perhaps unpredictablydangerous) natural world. Here were people, first fromthe Renaissance and later from the "Age of Reason,"absorbed with the idea of controlling the world aroundthem-and this attitude is reflected in all of their cre­ative endeavors, including their gardening.

Formal gardens, too, were means of "conspicuousconsumption," providing their owners with a way ofimpressing their friends and neighbors with their clever­ness, taste, and wealth. Today in Europe many formalgardens are open to the public as tourist attractions,often outshining the chateaus and palaces with whichthey are associated.

A maze is a network of garden paths bordered byclipped hedges. The challenge to the garden visitorsis to find your way in-and out-of the mazewithout getting lost.

ART TO ZOOis a publication of theOffice of Elementary and Secondary EducationSmithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560

Editor: Ann Bay (202) 357-2111

Regular Contributors:THE ANACOSTlA NEIGHBORHOOD MUSEUM

THE CHESAPEAKE BAY CENTER FOR 'ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

THE COOPER-HEWITT MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ARTS

AND DESIGN

THE HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN

THE MUSEUM OF AFRICAN ART

THE NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

THJ;: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART and theRENWICK GALLERY

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

THE NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK

Smithsonian Institution PressDesigner: Stephen KraftAssociate Editor: Ruth W. Spiegel

For help with this issue ofArt to Zoo, we are especiallygrateful to Lauranne Nash, Chiefof the Education Divi­sion in the Smithsonian's Office of Horticulture. Goodsuggestions were also provided by Alan Gartenhausand Thomas Lowderbaugh of the Office of Elementaryand Secondary Education.

Art to Zoo brings news from the Smithsonian Institutionto teachers of grades three through eight. The purposeis to help you use museums, parks, libraries, zoos, andmany other resources within your community to openup learning opportunities for your students.

Our reason for producing a publication dedicated topromoting the use ofcommunity resources among stu­dents and teachers nationally stems from a fundamen­tal belief, shared by all of us here at the Smithsonian, inthe power of objects. Working as we do with a vastcollection of national treasures that literally containsthe spectrum from "art" to "zoo," we believe thatobjects (be they works of art, natural history speci-.mens, historical artifacts, or live animals) have a tre­mendous power to educate. We maintain that it is equal­ly important for students to learn to use objects asresearch tools as it is for them to learn to use words andnumbers-and you can find objects close at hand, bydrawing on the resources of your own community.

Our idea, then, in producing Art to Zoo is to sharewith you-and you with us-methods of working withstudents and objects that Smithsonian education staffmembers have found successful. This is the second ofthree issues to be published this school year.

continued from page two

7. Finally, have your students grow their own gardenplants. Give each child a small flower pot (or peat pot)and standard potting medium, as well as several plantseeds (preferably from one of the kinds of plants he orshe has studied and identified). Have the children plantthe seeds and place the pots (each labeled with the nameof the child and the name of the plant) all together in aspot where they will have sufficient light to grow oncethey begin to sprout (say, under a "grow light" or in asunny window). Have the children water the soil justenough to keep it from drying out. And ask each indi­vidual child to keep a record of his or her own plant'sgrowth, including:• How long it takes the plant to germinate (or sprout).• How many centimeters (or millimeters) the plant

grows each week.• How long it takes for the buds ofthe plant to appear (if

indeed they do appear before the end of the schoolyear).

As a culminating activity to their study ofgarden plants,the children might enjoy staging a GARDEN SHOW featur­ing all their plants and the information they have re­searched about them. If the plants are not yet blooming,pictures of the blossoms might be pasted to the flowerpots to help lend color and give visitors a better idea ofwhat the mature plants will look like. In addition, asupplementary bulletin board exhibit with many colorpictures (both drawn by the children and cut from maga­zines and seed catalogs) on the various categories ofplants discussed earlier should be included so as toround out our story on seed-bearing plants and howthey grow ... and grow ... and grow.

Garden ResourcesBOOKS FOR STUDENTS

Brown, Marc. Your First Garden Book. Boston: LittleBrown. 1981.

Gambino, Robert. Easy to Grow Vegetables. NewYork: Harvey House, 1975.

Mintz. Lorelei Miller. Vegetables in Patches and Pots:A Child's Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening.New York: Farrar, Straus and Giraux. New York:1976.

SmithsonianOffersSummerCourseForTeachersYou don't have to live in Washington to study at theSmithsonian!

Using Museums to Teach Writing," a special one­week course, will be offered by the Smithsonian Institu­tion this summer for elementary and secondary schoolteachers living more than 75 miles outside the Wash­ington, D.C., metropolitan area.

The course is accredited by the University of Vir­ginia. Thition and materials fees will total approx­imately $200. No scholarships are available.

"Using Museums to Teach Writing" will survey waysin which teachers can use local museum exhibits andcommunity resources as tools for teaching writing. Inaddition to working on formal and informal exercises,participants will interview several Smithsonian Institu­tion staff writers to learn about various approaches towriting.

The course, worth three graduate credits, is open tofull-time classroom teachers, grades 5-12, school li­brarians (media specialists), and curriculum specialists.Interpreters for hearing-impaired individuals can beprovided for all class work.

Classes will meet July 5 to 13 in Washington, D.C.Specially priced housing may be available in a conve­niently located college dormitory. Participants will ar­range their own meals.

Enrollment is limited. Applications must be post­marked no later than April 15.Notices of acceptance willbe mailed by April 30.

For an application form, including complete informa­tion. write:National SeminarsOffice of Elementary and Secondary Education(OESE)Arts and Industries Building, Room 116~

Smithsonian InstitutionWashington, D.C. 20560Or, call 202/357-3049.

Murphy, Louise. My Garden. New York: Scribners.1980.

Paul, Aileen. Kids Outdoor Gardening. New York:Doubleday, 1978.

Simon, Seymour. Projects With Plants: A Science atWork Book. New York: Franklin Watts, 1973.

BOOKS FOR TEACHERSBerral, Julia S. The Garden, An Illustrated History.

New York: Viking Press, 1966.Bush-Brown, James, and Louise Bush-Brown. Amer­

ica's Garden Book. New York: Scribners, 1965.Crockett, James Underwood, and the Editors of Time­

Life Books. Annuals: The Time/Life Encyclopedia ofGardening. Vol 1. New York: Time-Life Books, 1971.

Hyams, Edward. A History ofGardens and Gardening.New York: Praeger, 1971.

Sunset Books. Sunset Introduction to Basic Garden­ing. Menlo Park, Ca.: Lane Publishing Company,1981.

Wyman, Donald. Wyman's Gardening Encyclopedia.New York: Macmillan, 1974.

Teachers in a recent OESE course on "UsingMuseums to Teach Writing" document the steps ofa spinning demonstration in the museum.

At the AnacostiaNeighborhood Museum,children and an unidentifiedparent stop to admire thefruits (as well as the seeds,flowers, stems, leaves,and roots) of theirhorticultural labors.

OTHER RESOURCES

Education Directory. American Association ofBotan­ical Gardens and Arboreta, Inc. Lists the various edu­cation programs, including tours, workshops, and lec­tures offered by botanical gardens in the United Statesand Canada. To order, send $2.75 to AABGA, Box 206,Swarthmore, PA 19081.Gardening Educational Aids. Nationa14-H Council.Booklets and slide/tapes for children. For a listing ofthese and other 4-H materials available to schools,write: National4-H Council, 7100 Connecticut Avenue,Chevy Chase, MD 20815.Reference Aids and Poster. United States NationalArboretum. Bibliographies and list of commercialsources of herbs, as well as colorful poster-all free.Write: u.s. National Arboretum, 3501 New York Ave­nue, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002.Seed Catalogs. Available free from many seed com­panies. Several of the books listed in this resourceguide, including Your First Garden Book by MarcBrown and Vegetables in Patches and Pots by LoreleiMiller Mintz, contain names and addresses of seedcompanies in different parts of the United States.

With .cDOt\"MiraCles Do Happen!Some plants grow from thickened, under­ground stems called "bulbs." The onion isone example of this type of plant. In fact, thepart of the onion we usually eat is really abulb. Daffodils, tulips, and crocuses aresome of the other plants that grow frombulbs.

Inside their brown or white papery cover­ings, bulbs are packed with energy and life.Cut abulb in half from top to bottom, and thisis what you'll see: At the very center of thebulb. near the bottom, atiny plant is forming.This tiny plant is called an embryo. Surround­ing the embryo are fleshy leaves calledscales, which protect and store food for theembryo.

When planting a bulb. always place it inthe ground with its pointed end up. Thenroots will grow down from the bottom of thebulb, and the tiny plant inside the bulb willget bigger and bigger until it eventuallysprouts up through the top. In time. as thisbulb sprout continues to grow. it will force itsway up through the ground. Then after awhile. what seems like a miracle will hap­pen. Green leaves will unfurl; blossoms will

form; and your bulb will have made a lovelyflowering plant.

See page four of the Pull-Out Page for step­by-step instructions on how to grow a bulbindoors.

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Cross-section of a daffodil bulb

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Bring SpringIndoorsAnytime withFloweringBul.bsOne perfect way to bring atouch of spring toyour life, even in the fall or winter, is to growa beautiful flower from a bulb right on your'own windowsill. A good bulb to start with isthe paperwhite narCissus, known for itssweet-smelling white blossoms. Here iswhat you do:

• Buy three or four paperwhite narcissusBULBS from your nearby garden center, drug­store, or hardware store. You'll also needabout two cups of PEBBLES OR SAND and ashallow DISH or BOWL.

• Pour half of the pebbles or sand evenlyinto the bowl.

• Arrange the bulbs on top of the pebblesor sand, pointed ends up and close together,

• Add more pebbles or sand so as to cov­er the bulbs just halfway. (The tops of thebulbs should show.)

• Store the dish in a cool, dark place forten full days. (During this time, the roots ofyour plants will be forming.)

• Now place the dish in a cool, sunnywindow. Water it regularly, so as to keep theroots of the bulbs wet. Expect to haveflowers in about four weeks.