Child Planting Alpine Bowl

Alpine plants are made for small hands, and are ideal for a child’s garden, especially one created in a container. Gardening in miniature introduces children to the rock plant family, a delightful group that includes diminutive bulbs, perennials, shrubs, conifers and alpines such as ajuga, arabis, saxifrage, phlox and aubretia. Many flower profusely between spring and early summer, bearing the most appealing of petite flowers, often allied with handsome foliage. This project gives an opportunity to talk about how alpine plants have had to adapt to their natural environment. Surviving the extremes of winter’s snow and summer’s heat means they are tough little plants, tolerant of drought, infertile soil and healthy neglect.