September is back-to-school month, and everywhere the emphasis is on children. With this in mind, we grown-ups who love gardening need to plan to include children in our activities, as well. Fall gardening and children go together readily—it is nice to be back outdoors and active again after the summer heat and drought have taken the joy out of gardening, and planning week-end activities in the garden is a nice way for families to be reunited after a week of being at work and at school.

Fall is a marvelous, though somewhat neglected, time to plant. Chrysanthemums are readily available now, and they can be found in a large variety of colors. Mums are appealing to children, especially young children, as they provide immediate satisfaction in the garden. Take some children to your local nursery, allow each child to select a mum, and then have the children plant the mums at home for some instant (or nearly) gardening success. Be sure to plant the mums in soil that is properly prepared, and water them in well. Even very young children can be of assistance in adding soil amendments such as compost or peat soil, and why certain ingredients in soil are necessary for the development of healthy plants.

Winter pansies are another planting choice you might make for children. If you have been around the grounds of Joplin’s elementary schools over the past few years, you may have noticed the winter pansies planted around them. If we are lucky and have another mild winter, the children can anticipate a long season of bloom from their pansies. The pansies are easy to grow—be sure to water them well, and to mulch them after the ground freezes. They also come in a large variety of colors, so there should be some that will appeal to everyone.

Older children, better able to wait for results, have more planting options than the young ones. If the children you are working with enjoy nature, try planting butterfly bushes. Butterfly bushes come in a variety of colors, are easily cared for, and are available for very reasonable prices at many of our local nurseries. It is said that butterflies prefer the darker blues and purples of the butterfly bushes 9buddleia), but our small, white butterfly bush was not exactly neglected this summer. Butterflies are also attracted to perennial phlox, asclepias, and zinnias. The black swallowtail butterfly larvae have been very plentiful in the herb garden this year. They especially enjoy munching on parsley and rue. The local libraries and book stores carry books and magazines that address gardening to attract wildlife of all kinds, and this is an especially good method of increasing children’s awareness of the interdependence of plants and animals.

Hummingbirds, and other child-pleasers, are drawn to red and orange flowers, and those flowers that are tubular in form. The diet of the hummingbird consists mainly of insects, but their high activity level also requires a large amount of carbohydrates, which they find in nectar and in the sugar water in our hummingbird feeders. Monarda (bee-balm), honeysuckle, trumpet vine, dianthus, morning glories, petunias, and digitalis (fox-glove) are all attractive to hummingbirds. The dianthus, morning glories, and petunias will have to wait until spring for planting, but the others can be planted now to be ready for the return of the hummingbirds next April.

In a few short weeks our deciduous trees will begin to color and their leaves will do their "fall" thing, and how the kids love this? The plethora of leaves provides a perfect opportunity to teach the children the names of our trees. Look in books and magazines for ideas for using the leaves for craft projects like centerpieces and wreaths. Be sure to compost the leaves for mulch and soil amending, as composting leaves is a better method of dealing with them than burning or landfilling. Watch the paper for Missouri Recycles Day in October, as free compost bins will be given away.