What to grow in a children’s garden?

There is nothing like a garden to develop and encourage a child’s natural curiosity about the world, connection to nature, and the concept of planting a seed for future harvest. Patience, persistence, hand-eye coordination, an eye for detail: all of these are virtues a garden can teach us. Whether it’s starting seeds, watching them sprout, and transplanting; learning to weed and tell friend from foe; or digging in the soil to observe all the various elements to be found (flora and fauna), the garden is a perfect place for exploration. Gardens also have the potential for both nearly-instant gratification and the reward for a job well done.

Children are often drawn to specific aspects of a garden: bright colors, a plant that attracts butterflies or bees, a flower that can talk, a pea or a cherry tomato you can pop into your mouth. Gardens are also a way to explore concepts like taking turns, performing rote tasks that need doing even without an immediate reason (watering, weeding, thinning, dead-heading), and (occasionally) disappointment because a bug found your pretty red strawberry before you got a chance to eat it. Children can help choose what plants will be a part of a garden, and help decide what to do with the harvest when the veggies or fruits are ready. A garden is a perfect outlet for creativity, provides an outdoor activity that’s both fun and productive, and an excuse to get your hands and clothes dirty.

Not sure where to start or what to plant for the children in your life? Here are a few ideas to get you started. We have suggested these plants and flowers because:

seeds sprout quickly, plants grow and bloom easily
they provide a payoff: a tasty harvest, a bright flower, invite bee, bird, and/or butterfly visitors
they have an interactive element that delight and engage children.

The list is by no means exhaustive, but a good jumping-off point for your own imagination!

Flowers

Sunflower

bright colors, make good cut flowers
some varieties result in edible seeds
attractive to insects and birds
variety of heights and flower sizes, children can measure their height against the flowers

Sweet Pea

climbing, interesting tendrils, can be trained over structures
flowers smell good
attractive to bees

Calendula

drought tolerant and deer resistant
colorful, make good cut flowers
flowers are edible

Cosmos

colorful, make good cut flowers
bloom at child height (no need to bend down!)

Zinnia

colorful, make good cut flowers
some varieties bloom at child height

Snapdragon

bloom earlier in the year than other flowers
colorful, make good cut flowers
some varieties can be pinched to make them “talk”
seed pods after bloom look like skulls

Balloon Flower

balloon-like buds burst into large, star-shaped flowers
come in interesting colors like blues, purples, variegated
taller varieties make good cut flowers
long-lived

Morning Glory

each bloom lasts a day; fun to watch each bloom’s progress
flowers from summer until frost
climbs over structures
low maintenance

Nasturtium

comes in lots of fun, bright colors
trails and climbs
flowers are edible!

Columbine

flowers come in many different colors and shape varieties
post-bloom pods are an interesting shape and full of seeds

Love-in-a-mist

flowers come in unusual and bright colors like blue and purple
post-bloom pods are fun both for their appearance and for splitting open to see the seeds
foliage is feathery and delicate, an unusual texture

California Poppy

Drought tolerant once plants have matured
Blooms in many bright, fun colors
Pre-bloom buds have a papery cone-shaped “hat” that pops off the flower
Post-bloom pods are fun to harvest & split open to see the seeds

Shirley Poppy

Bloom early in the spring and, if sown successively, will continue through summer
Petals have a fun, papery texture and unusual center

Vegetables & Fruits

Strawberry

Grow in pots and hanging baskets
Produce pretty flowers and delicious fruit
Fun to watch strawberries turn from green to red (ready to eat!)
Perennial plants that produce fruit year after year

Snow Pea

Quick to bloom and produce edible pods
Can eat snow peas raw right off the vine
Vines produce interesting tendrils, climb things
Flowers are pretty and can be fragrant

Snap Pea

Quick to bloom and produce edible pods
Vines need no supports but will climb and produce tendrils
Sweet, delicious, crunchy pods can be eaten raw right off the vine

Pumpkin

Progress of fruit is easy to see and monitor
Size of fruit can be influenced by pinching tips of vines
Fun to use for carving, decorating, or made into pies or other tasty food post-harvest

Tomato (Large & Cherry)

Can be staked or caged for support (construction project, tying vines to cages)
Reliably produces delicious fruit that can be eaten fresh & sun-warmed from the vine
Heirloom (larger) varieties come in many colors and flavors, including tart, sweet, and spicy
Cherry varieties come in many colors and make a quick and delicious garden snack
Cherry varieties will set fruit even in more extreme climates

Radish

Ready to eat sooner than almost any other vegetable, in as little as 20 days
Come in a variety of fun colors
Peppery and crunchy
Can be pickled

Carrot

familiar vegetable that’s fun to pull out of the ground to eat
available in a multicolored variety
tasty and versatile

Lettuce

Can be grown and harvested from spring until late fall
Many different varieties, come in different colors & flavors
Loose leaf lettuce can be harvested a few leaves at a time
Other varieties can harvest the whole head at once

Cucumber

Can be started indoors or direct sown after frost danger passes
Delicious fruits that can be eaten raw or pickled
Progress of flowers and fruits is easy to monitor
Can be grown in containers or beds
Some varieties produce fruit without pollination

Spinach

Fast harvest for baby spinach, plants mature quickly
Can be harvested a few leaves at a time or all at once
Delicious raw or cooked

Scarlet Emperor Runner Bean

Tolerate shade and grow in a variety of climates
Plants are both ornamental and functional, producing unusual red flowers, sweet young pods, and beans that can be cooked and eaten
Attractive to hummingbirds