Good luck! Must you use seeds? Even the most dedicated adults come up short sowing seeds, so imagine what will happen to 2nd & 3rd graders. Your child may bear your cross.

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials

How about letting them plant spring bulbs, much easier than seeds.

Are you looking for plants that will go into a school garden? You say the kids will be taking the containers home with them, but also mention that your available space was planted, so I'm not sure.

Does it have to be a perennial? Sunflowers are always good for kids because the seeds are big and they have a good germination rate.

Also, can you modify things a bit and do winter-sowing? Have the kids put the seeds in a milk jug and leave them outside? They would be protected and germinate when ready, and therefore you wouldn't have to worry about the frost date. Of course, it might be hard for those little ones to wait that long, lol!

Dee

Thanks for the responses so far. I'm just a volunteer from the main garden club, Bullthistle. My youngest is in HS.
To clarify, although we have a dedicated spot for planting, I can't use it for spring because it was already populated in the fall with pansies which will just be getting going about the time Spring session ends. I suppose we could oversow some hardy seeds there, but it tends to become an inferno zone as the season wears on. Also, kids really want to take something home with them, so containers it shall be.

THe gist of what I am getting so far is to stick with bulbs like glads or whatever I can find that is inexpensive. If I had anything large enough to divide I would, but my garden is new. Most purchased perennials at the shops are $9-12 a pop, so for 12 kids, that's out of range. I will keep looking. Larkspur and daisies grow well from seed, iirc.

I can certainly find annuals and vegetables that would work, but I'm trying to hit all the bases. How does the milk jug thing work, diggerdee? Are you cutting a lidded jug mostly in half to fill with soil and then taping it back together with electrical tape?

You could always ask members of the garden club for donations of perennials for division. True sunflowers and even cukes have good germination rates, but can you get youngums to water and place in the sun for the seeds to germinate, whereas divided perennials wouldn't need the optimum conditions.

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials

Yes, sujiwan, that's pretty much it - you take a plastic, gallon milk jug, cut it around the middle on three sides, leaving the fourth side as a hinge. Discard the cap, and put holes in the bottom for drainage.

Fill with about 3 inches of potting mix, wet the mix, sow your seeds, and tape back up with duct tape, or a strong cloth-type tape. Make sure the cap is off. You then place the jug outside and let nature take it's course. The container gives protection from animals, winds, and seeds washing away, while at the same time giving a mini greenhouse environment for the seed to germinate.

There are many other containers you can use. I prefer the milk jugs because they are sturdy, are deep enough, and have a handle for moving them around.

Below is the link for the FAQs for the Winter Sowing forum. Good luck with your project, whichever way you decide to go!

:)
Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter sowing FAQs

You can try vegetable seeds that sprout quickly, like radishes, about half way through your six weeks, and by the end of the session the kids can take them home to transplant outside if you have a place you can keep them and care for them until they can go home. Otherwise send them home earlier with a care sheet. You could probably plant sweet peas around the end of March - perhaps along the sides or back of the pansy bed with some type of support? They will have a short life, but will be early color, scent, and blossom.

I've in the past bought inexpensive 4" clay pots (4 for a dollar on sale) or baskets and acrylic paint markers (watch for sales at someplace like Michaels, or you may find someone to give you a discount if you explain why you need them) and had the kids decorate the pots with the markers and then plant them with small plant starts (like coleus sixpacks) that can be used as house plants or transplanted outside once the weather warms. You may find that the kids can each bring in a pot of some kind to decorate - sponge painting with acrylic paints if the kids wear protective gloves would work as well, even on cleaned old black nursery pots.

Don't forget that plants can be grown from other parts besides seeds. I've also taken cuttings of woody plants that root easily, like hydrangea or forsythia and had the kids start shrubs from cuttings (you'd need a care sheet written up - plastic bag over the pot, keep in bright shade,but not direct sunlight, etc.) You can also start many houseplants easily from cuttings, like philodendron from stem cuttings, jade plants from stems or leaves, or African violets from leaves. Do you have friends whose house plants need a bit of a trim?

I haven't found a way to run a kids' garden club without any budget, but with donations (often from parents or the PTA or PTO) and careful buying, I can usually do fun things on a reasonably low budget.

You might be very surprised at what you can accomplish. Back in the fall, I sowed some perennial Rudbeckia seeds in one gallon pots and set them out on the deck. I have done absolutely nothing to them all winter except throw a little water their way when I think about it, which isn't even once a week. They are up and growing, and it didn't take them very long either. I know I am farther south than you, so if you're skeptical of my way, check out the winter sowing forum (as suggested above). If they can do it, you certainly should be able to. Just ask each child to bring a container of potting soil (and have a few extras on hand, just in case). Let them sow their seeds and put them outside. I should think they would be thrilled to death. The FAQs on the forum list lots of plants that are easy to start that way. Oh yeah, I have sowed baptisia seeds in the same way as the Rudbeckia and they came up too. Since you have frost into May, you should have enough cold ahead to provide scarification times. I have also had great luck with balloon flowers (which are very cool plants for kids), iberis, and coneflowers. All three germinate quickly and easily and bloom their first year from seed.

Oh! And one more idea. I have 200 baby roses growing out on my back porch that will be our church's gifts to all ladies on Mothers day this year. I figure I have less than thirty CENTS in each one. I went to Wal Mart and got pink, 16 oz. plastic drinking cups. Used a drill to put drainage holes in the bottom. (You can do a big stack of cups at one time.) Filled them with potting soil, and stuck rose cuttings in them when I pruned my roses. I then put them in rubbermaid clear plastic containers (which I use for cuttings and seeds all year long) and stacked them out on my back porch. It looks like 85 to 90 percent of them have rooted. Start with antique roses. I did Nearly Wild this year, (pink blooms in pink cups) but many others would do very well. The poster above me suggested some other plants you could try too. I'm middle-aged, and still am wowed by the miracle of cuttings.

When I was a kid, I grew a salad garden from seeds. Nothing fancy. Just leaf lettuce and radishes. They could be grown in containers. And they grow fast. By the end of May, you'll have enough lettuce for a nice salad. Have the kids make an easy salad dressing. My favorite recipe is 1 part lemon juice, 1 part brown sugar, 2 parts vinegar and 4 parts vegetable (I like canola) oil. Swirl togther in a jar, or mix with a fork.