The New Family Activity BookletsThings

Cleveland Botanical Garden introduced this month a new way for you and your child to connect with nature at home and in Hershey Children’s Garden.

Families who pick up a Family Activity Booklet at the children’s garden front gate will find activities they can do with their children at home and on a garden visit. Each month families have five new activities they can do on a garden visit and five activities they can do at home. Each month the suggested activities and themes change. June is about fairies and trees while next month is all about water. Families receive a stamp in their booklet each time they participate in an activity. Complete any five activities, collect five stamps and earn one free admission for a child. Now there are more ways to make each visit special. . .earn a friend a free visit to enjoy new ways to have fun with you.

Here is one more book review written by one of our four high school seniors completing her time with us, Katie Kinkopf. She chose a book from our Rare Book Room:

Herbarius Latinus, incipit tractatus de uirtutibus herbarum

When I think of field guides I picture a colorful Peterson’s guide full of everything you need to know about a plant accompanied by glossy and attractive photographs. Today I had to opportunity to flip through one of the most unusual and interesting field guides I have had the privilege of viewing. Arnoldi de Nova Villa’s 1491 Latin field guide, titled Herbarius Latinus, incipit tractatus de uirtutibus herbarum. Touching a book that was printed 519 years ago feels incredible and humbling. The intricate drawings feature German woodcuttings and are accompanied by frequent notes (in Latin) by a previous owner.

Incredibly I find that my life is a mere 20 years of those 500 that have passed since Leonardus Achates published not only this book, but also the first printed folio of Virgil’s works, Euclid’s findings and calculations, and Crescenzi’s manual on agriculture, some of which are now stored in Britain’s Royal Library.

In the past 500 years many wars have been fought, inventions integrated into our everyday lives, and empires have crumbled and new ones built to replace them. The magnitude of this realization profoundly astonishes even the most experienced bibliophile.

Cleveland Botanical Garden acquired the guide in the mid 20^th century, through the generous donation of Warren H. Corning, whom had previously had an extensive collection of rare horticulture books. The Warren H. Corning Collection of Horticulture Classics was split among the Cleveland Botanical Garden, The Holden Arboretum, and the Allen Memorial Medical Library at the Case Western Reserve University.

In contemporary horticulture and biology Arnoldi’s book may seem outdated for science research and practical application, however as a sociological artifact, readers and anthropologists can unravel the ways in which scientific knowledge was spread throughout Europe in the 15^th and 16^th centuries. Books such as Herbarius Latinus are invaluable as collector’s items, as anthropological artifacts and as interesting reads for bibliophiles that enjoy Latin field guides.

In the Garden, Home Connections and Helping Hands

May is all about flower gardening in Hershey Children’s Garden. Our programming emphasis centers on mathematical concepts of counting and classifying. We are offering stories like Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert as an opportunity to add some color to a child’s garden visit.

We started painting the garden this month with our May Day weekend celebration last Saturday. Children participated in creating May Day baskets, filling the baskets with fresh garden flowers and dancing around the May Pole. If you did not make out this past weekend, it is okay. We are making baskets for flowers every Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. this month. If you are busy on weekends, come on Wednesdays and participate in Nature Tales Story Time at 11:00 a.m.

Your family could provide some helping hands this Saturday from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. You can make a flower arrangement during our Blooms-To-Go program for some person in the community whose needing some flower cheer this Mother’s Day. You make the arrangements and we deliver to one in need.

Lastly, there are many things you could do at home with your little one to plant your own rainbow. One idea is to plant a cutting garden in a pot or in the backyard. A cutting garden is planted with flowers especially suited for flower arrangements which you cut and use. Plant easy to care for flowers such as: marigolds, zinnias, annual salvias, sunflowers, cosmos, bachelor’s buttons, geraniums, roses, poppies, irises and so many more. You and your child can care for the plants, cut the flowers and create wonderful artwork! Come and see what we plant in our cutting garden this month.
 

Our Monthly Theme

April is all about earth care in Hershey Children’s Garden. Our programming emphasis centers around helping young children identify their common connection with and respect for other living things. We are offering stories like The Lorax by Dr. Seuss as an opportunity to discover that we are a part of the same planet.

Today, we hosted our first Nature Tales Story Time under the tree house. The leaves emerging from winter sleep and a gentle warm breeze moving daffodils in full bloom provided the perfect setting for over thirty participants listening to a story and creating flowers with their hand prints. Come next Wednesday at 11 a.m. to hear another story and learn about what we could do with our "garbage" besides through it away.

There are many things you could do at home with your little one to help them connect to their world. One idea would be to plant a pollinator garden, butterfly and bee friendly, and draw pictures of what comes to visit the flowers. The Garden has a number of examples of plant material just right for such a project. We are happy to show you what plants you can plant in your Cleveland yard. Another idea would to go for a walk through Hershey Children’s Garden or a park. See if you can find examples of the food chain taking place (a bee visiting a flower, a rabbit eating grass) and draw a picture of it. Whatever you decide to do with your child, encourage them to talk about what they are seeing and doing, what is around them. Show them how you are caring for the earth.
 

Count Down To Open

One week. That is all there is to the opening of the 11th season in the Hershey Children’s Garden. Are you looking forward to it? I know I am. Each year monthly themes are chosen upon which to base programs. We firmly believe in the power of play and story to impact a child’s development, so we are taking a literary approach this season. We are highlighting a different children’s story each month and incorporating it into our programs.

First of all, April is dedicated to earth care and cultivating a respect for all life. We want to demonstrate that our lives and actions are interconnected with the rest of life on earth. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss carries this message well. We wil bring the story to life through several programs.

BotaniCool^®School for Little Buds (ages 3-5 yrs) 
Saturdays, April 17 and May 15

Bring your little buds to the Garden and watch them bloom! In this series, children ages 3-5 will use the Garden to learn about caring for the Earth. Registration is available for individual sessions or the series. Please register in advance.

Plant a Truffula Tree            
Sundays, April 4, 11, 18 & 25
Saturdays, April 10, 17 & 24

Posted by Josh Steffen 

Celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day with nature crafts for children showcasing the importance of trees.

No registration required.

Date: Saturday and Sunday, April 24 & 25, 2010; 1:00-4:00pm

How to Tackle Your Inheritance

Few people get the luxury of obtaining a piece of land "clean" of any existing planting or building scheme. Most businesses or home owners purchase property on which the previous owner has created some sort of planting scheme. Even those purchasing new homes must work with what the builder chooses to plant. There may be domineering trees or shrubs or veracious perennials or rampaging groundcovers with which to contend. There may be a horrific color scheme among the plants that clashes with the house. On the other hand, the plantings may be so new and inadequate that we wonder why the contractor bothered, and perhaps their plant choices are not exactly. . .what one would have selected if we had control of the design from the beginning.

I inherited an existing garden when I became the manager of Hershey Children’s Garden. The Garden was in its sixth season of existence and was handed down to me from a series of talented managers before me. They each shaped the Garden in wonderful ways during their tenure and I frankly felt daunted at keeping pace.

How could I improve upon such wonderful work? How was I supposed to approach my work with this garden with all its different facets from programming and signage to planting schemes and structural maintenance? Over the next series of posts I share the emerging approach to my work as I learned. When I reflect back on my journey thus far, I followed a similar path to the one my father took in renovating our yard during my college days.

Bringing the Outside In

Many cultural celebrations center around natural cycles or events. Thanksgiving is no exception. Parents need to get their kids outside, and parents need to bring the outside indoors.

There are a number of ways to bring the outdoors in over the coming winter months. Here are a number of ideas: 

1.  Walk through the yard, neighborhood or nearby park, collecting whatever materials you find on the ground (you could do a litter hunt one day and a nature hunt another). Take the materials home and make fantastic creatures or Thanksgiving decorations. I like to ask kids to draw their creature first and then make with the materials what they just drew.

2.  You can find lots of other craft ideas on the internet.  

3.  Purchase different flowering spring bulbs and force them to bloom early, like, say, February.

4.  Purchase houseplants that can spend the summer outside in Ohio. When you return them to the indoor environment each fall they serve as a reminder of green summer days.

Posted by Josh Steffen

Other Garden Connections

Yes, Hershey Children’s Garden is closed for the season. This is true, but it does not mean the opportunities for family fun are over. Here are some things you can do while you are here, and some upcoming opportunities:

• Give your child a journal and encourage them to write or draw pictures of what they saw, heard, smelled or touched
• See if you can find fungus, rocks, leaves and branches of different colors, shapes and sizes; look at them with a magnifying glass
• Collect different types of fallen leaves and draw them in a journal or press them flat in a large book, the leaves can be arranged into different animals on seasonally appropriate greeting cards
• Attend our last Little Buds class for the season
• Come to one of our Nature Tales Story Time sessions
• Attend our America Recycles Day

There are endless opportunities to create lasting memories with your child no matter the season. Let us help you facilitate those moments.

Hershey Children’s Garden Cool Plants
(#10 in a series of 10)
Native Bird Food: Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

Some adults bring their children to Hershey Children’s Garden and become engrossed in exciting adventures and programs — and possibly miss some of the horticultural nuances of this great garden space. Hershey Children’s Garden is a sophisticated and — now in its 10th anniversary season — mature garden with many plantings that any adult gardener or garden enthusiast would love to have in their personal greenspace. Who can blame them?

Here is the final plant in our series of 10 of our staff’s favorite Hershey Children’s Garden plants, along with their special and unusual properties to appreciate with a child.  

Fall in Hershey Children’s Garden is full of different colored leaves. Fall is also time for flowers that many people overlook. I am speaking, of course, of the perennial grass flowers or flower inflorescence.
There are many different perennial grasses in the children’s garden. Little Bluestem, one particular favorite, originates from the eastern tall grass prairies of North America.

Little bluestem is a native bunch grass with summer blue-green leaves and pretty inflorescence. The leaves change to an attractive multi-colored pattern as the temperature cools. Right now, it is a great plant to examine closely with your children. You can note the purples and reds. See how many different colors you can see.

I highly recommend Little bluestem for children’s gardens. The two to four feet in height makes a great scale for children. They can walk in a prairie of Little Bluestem and not feel overwhelmed amongst extremely tall grass. It is tolerant of a wide range of soil and moisture conditions as well. Also, it has many seasons of interest capped with great fall color.
 

Come see this little seasonal wonder on your next visit. Also, check out our self-guided tour of the children’s garden prairie on our activity cart. It is full of all kinds of information and things to do in the prairie.
 

Hershey Children’s Garden Cool Plants
(#9 in a series of 10)

Edible/Fruit: Raspberry (Rubus idaeus)

Some adults bring their children to Hershey Children’s Garden and become engrossed in exciting adventures and programs — and possibly miss some of the horticultural nuances of this great garden space. Hershey Children’s Garden is a sophisticated and — now in its 10th anniversary season — mature garden with many plantings that any adult gardener or garden enthusiast would love to have in their personal greenspace. Who can blame them?

Here is the ninth plant in our series of 10 of our staff’s favorite Hershey Children’s Garden plants, along with their special and unusual properties to appreciate with a child.

One memorable late summer and early Autumn sensation is the delightful burst of sweetness one experiences with every raspberry freshly picked from Hershey Children’s Garden. Every September, visitors of every age are treated to an abundant crop of red delicious aggregrate fruits. Staff have grown Rubus ’Latham,’ R. ‘Heritage,’ and R. ‘Illini Hardy.’ It is a fun discovery to come upon such an inviting treat.

Raspberries are fairly easy to grow in your back yard, and planting them give kids something to look forward to all summer long. There is nothing like fresh raspberries on one’s cereal to cheer little faces bound for school. I like to interact with kids who want to pick the fruit early about what ripe means and teach them proper harvest time. Raspberries are best harvested when they turn the richest red or gold. If they do not come easily off the plant then little fingers are best taught to wait.

Raspberries are best planted in moisture-retentive (yet well-drained) soil with lots of organic matter. An addition of compost in late spring or balanced organic fertilizer works well for me. Summer-fruiting varieties should be cut to ground level after fruiting. For summer varieties, only cut down the canes that produced fruit that year. Unfruited canes I then cut in half in spring. Fall-fruiting varieties should be completely cut back in late winter and then cut to six inches above any training wire.

Do these simple tasks and this low maintenance fruit will give more than it takes. Enjoy your cereal.