All the Dirt on Gardening

Make a garden of animal named plants Expressions such as “red as a beet” and “cool as a cucumber” are common ways to use plant names in everyday conversation. And on the other hand, for some reason, many plants have been given animal names. Several zoos and botanical gardens used this idea and planted children’s gardens with animal named plants. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colo., provides a list of their animal named plants at http://www.cmzoo.org/plantswithanimalnames.html . Glasshouse Works, an online plant seller, offers plants in two categories: Tropical Zoo Animal Plants and Hardy Zoo Animal Plants at http://www.glasshouseworks.com/zooanimals.html. One California landscape company lists plants by animal names at http://www.elnativogrowers.com. Grandparents, parks and schools are using animal named plantings to help children learn science and math as well as giving them another reason to be physically active. In one season, a garden could be completely transforme...