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A group of women was standing around a mound of potting soil at Gertens, carefully scooping the dark stuff into their pots with trowels.
My 7-year-old son stood next to them, flinging dirt into his container with gloved hands and the passion of a terrier at a rat hole. Soil fell off the wagon and onto the greenhouse floor. Soil ended up in his hair.
"That's the way a man does it," said a good-natured garden center employee standing nearby, who happened to be a guy.
I don't know if that's how men do it. But kids certainly go for the hands-on approach to planting.
I crashed a garden party with my son last week at Gertens. It was one of the special March workshops during which early-bird gardeners plant a hanging basket of flowers, which then grow in the greenhouses until it's time to take them home in May. While the program attracts mostly middle-aged women, kids are welcome, (really, the women smiled at my son), and there are usually a few parents or grandparents with children in each session.
Encouraging tiny green thumbs seems to be a new push at area garden centers. Bachman's started a free monthly Kids in the Garden workshop for 30 children last summer. Linder's is in its fourth year of offering a popular Little Sprouts club, which draws 120 kids on three Saturdays.
Gertens has toyed with the idea of a regular children's program, according to manager Stephanie Fecht, but for now, the center allows kids into only the classes with
Our class started with a 15-minute demonstration by a woman wearing a pink apron and wireless microphone. We sat around tables with colorful umbrellas like the audience on a home and garden show set.
My son had grabbed complimentary lemonade, so he was happy to sit while we learned how to select annual flowers for optimum appeal. The teacher told us we should plant nine to 12 annuals per pot, one or so upright plants in the middle, surrounded by several mounding annuals and a few trailing plants tucked around the edges. She said geraniums and begonias were great for providing coarse texture, and she suggested we limit ourselves to one potato vine, unless we wanted it to take over the pot. After a few more tips, she said, "OK, you can go ahead and get your hands dirty."
That was all the invitation my son needed. After filling his fiber mache pot with dirt, he grabbed the wire hanger and threaded it through the holes in the pot. While I puzzled over how to attach the wires securely, he deftly twisted them into place.
"I was paying attention," he said smugly. And I thought he was just slurping lemonade.
We decided to plant a basket for a shady
"Um," I asked. "Don't you like this softer-colored salmon begonia? Or maybe this nice red?"
Nope. Oh well, there went my color palette. My son also picked out white impatiens and a red and white training fuchsia.
We settled at one of several long tables and started to plant. I could hear him muttering to himself as he made the holes, "Drill down ... plant ... drill down ... plant."
We had a great time. There is something intoxicating about working with growing things at the end of winter. Just breathing the moist greenhouse air put us in a good mood.
I'm not a gardener, so it was convenient to have someone line up supplies and give plant advice so I could focus on having a good time with my son. And, I have no doubt I will be thrilled with a carefully tended and gorgeous flowering basket in May.
The price ($60) is high but not unreasonable. Gertens sells finished baskets for about $50 in the spring. And if you ended up buying mature annuals to plant yourself at home, you'd pay nearly the same amount after purchasing pots and soil.
Still, despite my cheapskate tendencies, we decided to make a second basket ($50). Some parents cave in and buy their kids video
He chose sun-loving plants the second time around — a cool twisty grass called corkscrew rush, a lemon-colored petunia and a purple flower It was another color scheme that I would not have chosen. I asked him why he thought those colors looked good together, and he gave me an excited look.
"Mama! It's the Vikings colors!"
Maja Beckstrom can be reached at mbeckstrom@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5295. Read previously published family outings under "family fun" at MinnMoms.com.
The scoop
What: Hanging Basket Garden Party workshop
Where: Gertens, 5500 Blaine Ave., Inver Grove Heights
Information: 651-450-1501 orgertens.com
When: 2 to 3:30 p.m. March 27
Cost: $60 (longer sessions that also include lunch are offered 10 a.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. March 27 for $85)
Target audience: Mostly adults, but kids are welcome
Crowd pleaser: Digging in the dirt in a greenhouse while there is still snow outside
Avoid: Second-guessing your child's color scheme
Tip: Bring gardening gloves
Special event: Kids get to choose seeds to start in a peat pot during a free children's program on starting seeds indoors, 10 to 11 a.m. March 27
Other kid programs
Where: Bachman's, 6010 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis
What: Kids in the Garden (ages 3-10)
When: 10 to 11 a.m. first Saturday of month
Cost: Free, but registration required
Info: 612-861-7311 or bachmans.com
Where: Linder's Garden Center, 270 W. Larpenteur Ave., St. Paul
What: Little Sprouts (ages 4-13)
When: Third Saturday of month
Cost: $15 for annual membership
Info: 651-488-1927 or linders.com
Four spring gardening projects kids can do now
WHEAT GRASS SPRING CENTERPIECE
While you're waiting for the lawn to emerge from under the snow, you can sprout a miniature version indoors. Wheat grass is a satisfying project for kids.
"It comes up in three days, it grows quickly and it's fun to watch," says Trica Miller, who leads a monthly children's program at Bachman's in Minneapolis. Fill decorative pots or trays with potting soil, sprinkle in seeds and cover with a thin layer of soil. Keep moist and move into sunshine as soon as sprouts appear.
If you plant this week, you'll have sprouts to celebrate the spring solstice next Sunday and a 10-inch centerpiece by Easter. If you plan to let kids or cats nibble on the grass (and they will want to), use food-grade seed that hasn't been exposed to fungicide.
HERB GARDEN
Kids love to grow herbs, says Debbie DiLorenzo, who heads up the Little Sprouts club at Linder's. "It's something they can eat that is not a vegetable. And, they can touch it and smell it."
Kids especially like to chew on chives, she said. Parsley, mint and basil are also great bets.
Now is the time to start seeds indoors. Don't bother buying pots. Use small yogurt containers or any other small plastic container with holes punched in the bottom for drainage. Put in a warm place until seeds germinate. Miller at Bachman's says she had basil germinate in four days on top of the fridge. When seeds sprout, move the herbs to a bright, sunny spot.
You can transplant herbs into decorative pots or transplant them outdoors in early May. Just don't put mint in the ground unless you want it to spread everywhere.
PEAS IN A POT
There is no instant gratification in gardening, but peas come close. These are known as early producers, and they like cool weather. You can sow peas outside as soon as the soil thaws. Or sow them indoors, 10 seeds in a 14-inch pot, and push the wires of a tomato cage into the dirt so the pea vines have something to climb. Put the pot in a sunny spot, and voila, your kids will be snacking like Peter Rabbit by the time school is out. The warmer your house, the faster the plant will grow. But the cooler it is, the more yield you'll get, according to DiLorenzo.
MOONFLOWER MAGIC
The climbing moonflower vine is a relative of the morning glory, but instead of flowers that greet the sun, the moonflower grows big, white blossoms that open after dusk.
DiLorenzo will be planting moonflower seeds next month with children at Linder's, but this is something you can easily do at home. Moonflower seeds are about the size of a bean. Use a fingernail file to rub through some of the thick hull on the rounded side. Wet a folded paper towel, gently squeeze it out and place it in a recloseable bag with three or four seeds. Put the bag in a warm place and keep watch.
When you see leaves forming, plant the seeds in small pots and place them in a bright area. Transplant outdoors after May 15, when the seedlings are about 3 inches tall and have a couple of sets of leaves. They'll need something to climb, like a fence, trellis or lamppost. (You also can plant these directly outside after danger of frost is gone.)
Three months after starting the seeds, you should get flowers. That's when you let the kids stay up late to watch them open. It takes about two minutes.
