Jack's Garden ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

Jack's Garden
By Henry Cole
(Greenwillow Books, 1995)


It's that time of year. For me, I am picking out hundreds of sunflowers seeds gone wild in the middle of the strawberry bed. Not to mention digging out the little clover roots that have invaded the same triangle garden. Last fall, I loved the groups of birds foraging in my overgrown sunflower patch. Unfortunately I allowed a few strays to grow. They took over. This year, my laziness has been found out. So the weeding progresses.

Meet Jack.

Jack's Garden is a book about a, well, perfectly tilled, measured, and planned garden. Each two-page spread tells what Jack does in his garden. Borders are edged with tools, garden critters, life cycles, and so on. Jack is not lazy though. He wants flowers to take over his garden so he can enjoy the ladybugs (detailed life stages illustrations), birds, bees, butterflies, and all of those other wonderful animals that frequent flower gardens. The end result is beautiful.

Readers will learn much about gardens and wildlife when they read Jack's Garden. The illustrations are labeled, so everyone can tell which is a ladybird larva and which is a bee balm flower. This nature book not only allows the reader to learn, it is a good scientific source for accurate information and gives suggestions for planting your own flower garden to attract wildlife.

Jack's Garden is a great resource for gardeners of any age.

KID KANDY:

Plant a Flower Patch

~ With mom or dad, choose a spot to clear of grass or other plants. Dig up the soil and mash up the dirt chunks.

~ Smooth the dirt with a rake or your hands. Doesn't the soil feel nice and cool?

~ Decide on which flowers you want to plant. Sunflowers? Black-eyed Susan's? Daisies? Maybe you want a mix of seeds and a surprise.

~ Get your seeds.

~ Read the package directions together to find out how deep to plant the seeds. Plant them in your flower patch dirt.

~ Gently water the soil and keep it moist until seedlings sprout.

~ Continue to water. Wait to pull weeds until you are sure which sprouts are weeds and which are flowers!

~ Enjoy the beautiful flowers that bloom. Spend some time watching to see who visits your flower patch - bees, butterflies, robins, cats, slugs, ladybugs, and spiders may check out your flowers.

~ Don't forget to take pictures of your beautiful flowers!