Including a few of these plants in your garden can introduce the opportunity for storytelling as well as education. Entertain your garden guests and get children interested in garden plants by making a visit to your garden fun. :)

Օ = Full Sun

Ø = Partial Shade

Collects rainwater & dew like sparkling jewels on its velvety leaves

Fertile fronds resemble cinnamon sticks

Flower buds look like inflated balloons

Mother “hen” surrounded by baby “chicks”

Silky silver foliage resembles fuzzy ears of baby lambs

Seedheads look like the long beak of a crane

Turn an individual blossom to the side and it “obediently” stays where you place it

Flowers resemble the brightly patterned blankets made by Native Americans

The fronds look like Ostrich feathers (historically popular for decorating fashionable ladies’ hats)

Essential to the life cycle of Monarch butterflies. A good teaching opportunity to illustrate the interconnectedness of life on Earth.

Legend has it that Native American children shook & rattled the seedheads of this plant to imitate their elders in dancing ceremonies

These crazy, contorted flowers look like the “comb” on top of a rooster’s head

The Sun, the Moon, & the Stars. The flowers are the sun, the seedhead is the moon, and the blowing seeds are the stars.

Children especially love these “heart plants”. Have fun with botanical storytelling!

Spires of fragrant white flowers on this native woodland plant suggest white candles in the forest

Tiny cupped blue leaves resemble mouse ears

Fluffy white flowers look like bunny tails

Upright clusters of fruit atop the foliage is cherry-red in this variety, versus brown in most others

A low growing ground covering cultivar with burgundy wine-colored foliage

Lavender flowers are borne on short stems, so the flowers barely “peek” over the foliage in summer

Huge clusters of flowers age from creamy white to strawberry-red and look for all the world like a sumptuous strawberry sundae!

The distinctive flavor of Gin comes from Juniper berries. This particular juniper sets an abundance of showy (and flavorful!) fruit.

We have to include this one, which shares its name with our beloved Mr. Velvetini. 😊

Petite bronze/chocolate-colored leaves

The “Manners” series is bred for good garden behavior (i.e. it is clump forming rather than colonizing)

One of the fastest growing cultivars, which will quickly grow into a hedge

by Zannah Crowe