Hi! My girls love the raspberry plant I have. I only bought one, but that is the first place they run to when we get home to see if there are any raspberries ripe. I have gotten a good bit off of the one bush. Another one they like is Cosmos. They are as tall as and even taller then them and they are such bright colors. It is an annual and makes great cut flowers. Hope that helps. My girls are 6 and 3.
Cindy

cindylou,
Did it take 3 years for your raspberry to bear fruit? I read that somewhere. Thanks for the suggestions.

My 4 year old just planted a bunch of bulbs for his garden for spring. Picked a wild combination of "Gypsy Queen" hyacinths and daffodils. We'll see how it looks, lol!...

Favorites for us have been:

-tomatoes; he likes to pick and eat them right off the vine
-coreopsis; he learned to "deadhead" on this plant and is very good at it now; new blooms come up really quickly on this plant after deadheading and it just keeps getting taller and taller
-purple coneflower; easy, tall, and attracts goldfinches for the seeds and bees and butterflies for the nectar
-"smelly" herbs like basil and rosemary; fun to rub and sniff
-and the pumpkin because it grows like crazy and growing your own jack o'lantern can't be beat (can you try a smaller variety like a sugar and trellis it? then you get to make pantyhose slings for the fruit...cool!)
-raspberries and strawberries; for obvious reasons :)

My guy really gets into composting, too. Gets to make dirt!

-K

Pepper,

My 11 year old son has been gardening with me for years (has 2 of his own gardens). His favorites are lamb's ear, blackeyed susans, minature gourds and scralet runner beans (grown up the side of our barn on netting), hollyhocks, money plant, columbines and of course sunflowers (giants and minatures). He also loves herbs (wants to be a chef) and his favorites are lemon balm (can be invasive), catmint (Smokey loves it too), chives, parsley, sage and oregano.
I hope your son enjoys gardening with you, too. Get him his own minature tools and his own patch of ground. Mine even saves his allowance now and scours the nurseries with me for bargains (even though I buy him plants and give him divisions, he likes to buy his own).

Have fun!

My kids are 4 1/2 and 2. They love to dig so I always try to leave party of the garden bare for them. Of course plants that feel good to touch are great - silver mound, lambs ear.

The neighborhood kids love my chamomile path and the lamb's ears. They also love the smokey fennel with all the lady bird beetles it attracts. Borage has also become a favorite as they can eat the flowers. They think it is weird at first but then i catch them dragging friends over to try a bloom. Scented geraniums (especially peppermint and lemon) have also been favorites and they love to go home to Mom with a bundle of Butterfly bush blooms.

I have a school garden club, as well as neighbors and nieces and nephews, and I find the kids love bulbs (the idea that the little brown lumps will put up beautiful flowers is really exciting to all of them, and they love looking at catalog pictures to choose.) One of the first graders mentioned this week, in the midst of our frozen winter weather, that he was thinking about our fall bulbs! Bright flowers are always popular, especially for taking home bouquets, and edible plants like berries (blueberries and strawberries don't have thorns), edible podded peas, beans and the smallest cherry tomatoes are always popular for snacking. Herbs like mint and chives, although invasive, are kept trimmed by munching (just make sure the edibles are separated from the non-edible flowers like daffodils) and pumpkins and gourds (especially ones with fun shapes, sizes or uses like jack-be-little pumpkins or bird-house gourds) have been popular also.

Babs

There are several solanum species (nightshades) such as Wonderberry, Huckleberry, Jaltomate and so forth that produce delicious edible fruits. My daughter and I want to try two different ones each year in our garden. She is quite excited to find out how they all taste (I already know).

These grow really easily, care for them just like tomatoes. The only thing is you may want to wait a year or so until your son and his playmates are out of the age of putting everything in their mouths because the unripe fruits are poisonous.

Armadillo

My children are 5 and 6(practically 7). Last year my daughter had her own little garden on the end of our big one. My son didn't want to. But after seeing his sister have so much fun, he has been planning one for this year. Favorites have been peas, pumpkins, carrots, and melons. Miranda planted zinnias which were a big hit and this year she has been looking at the catalogs as they come to pick flowers for next year.

I give them complete freedom on what they plant in their garden. As I have been drawing up my garden plans for spring, they have also been doing the same for theirs.

Milkweed for the Monarchs butterflies...also a small pond with fish and there are some interesting plants for the ponds too.

I know you mentioned them already however my girls
13,9,& 3 love to plant sunflower play house's !
Just use a varity if sizes & plant in a circle big enough for them to play inside..

Don't forget to leave a gap for the door!!
I did that the 1st year..they didn't want me to thin them after they bloomed !

Hope you try it !
It's fun..we even had tea party's in ours!! heeheehee
Trina

I always loved making snapdragons "roar" in my grandma's garden, and hollyhock ladies are fun, too. I'm trying Dracocephalum moldavica this year (Moldavian Dragonshead); I have a feeling my son will love their little tiny teeth! :o)

Last year we had a great time with Moonflower. You can watch a bud open up before your eyes. It's very exciting and can develop lots of conversations about why some plants prefer the dark, insects that pollinate them. etc. If you live in Zone 7 or lower, I suggest buying a growing plant from a nursery because you'll get a full summer of flowers. Starting them from seed can take a while and really needs a greenhouse to get them to a decent size

I'm about to plant some moon flower seeds along a fence in my backyard. I am really excited! I love moon flowers they are so amazing!

Edible flowers! Kids get a kick out of being able to eat flowers. Have a contest to see who can make the most colorful salad!

arugula, batchelor's buttons, beans, borage, calendula, chives, daylilies, dianthus, hibiscus, hollyhock, kale, nasturtiums, pansies, roses, snapdragons, squash, sunflowers, and violets are all edible.

Be sure to tell them that not all flowers are edible - morning glory, for instance, is poisonous.

Also, a bean tipi is great! make a frame out of sticks, then plant beans or scarlet runner beans around the base (leave space for a door). They will curl up the sticks and fill in to make a room!

my kids LOVE borage.... blooms all summer, and tastes delicate like cucumber. the seeds look really cool as they are released too.. sort of 'born' from the mama plant. unfortunately this plant is a MAJOR reseeder, though pulls up easy. however, deer don't like it.

another plant I am seeking several of to place at the back of our new childrens garden is Gunnera, which gets HUGE.. I think kids groove on 'statement plants' .. those that make an impact, like grasses, large leaved, or really tiny leaved... my 5 yo loves 'baby's tears'

my kids also love to play with bracken ferns, they make great wands. for that matter -- so do alliums when gone to seed.... make sure you let some do that.. they love 'em.

--moonsaga

My kids are 5 and 9.
When the youngest was 1 we homeschooled the older one for a year. We started a pond in our kiddie pool to learn about communities and how in a community one thing can affect alot of other things. They loved it as did I. Our kiddie pool grew to a 350 gallon stock tank with a waterfall and 3 other vegi filters. We added another pond this spring that is about 150 gallons. They love the fish and know NEVER NEVER NEVER go to the pond without mom. Our yard is divided into MINE and THEIRS. :)
Divided with a fence I should say. They are amazed at the plants that can grow without dirt for example, but others like Bearded Iris's can't.
Nannie helped them start their own Iris bed this year at her house with some of her extra bulbs. They just love all of gardening.
:)
Karen