Seeds

Understanding how each flower type grows best from seed will help you get the most out of your garden. The article also discusses the best fertilizer for each variety.

Lisianthus, also known as prairie gentian and bluebell gentian, is one of the easiest spring flowers to start from seed. It comes in shades of blue, purple, pink, orange and lime green.

MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio — Community partnerships are important to the Berea City School District, and Grace CMA Church in Middleburg Heights provided a perfect example by donating flowers and native plants to beautify Berea-Midpark Middle School last Thursday (Aug. 10).

District students, staff and church volunteers spent hours working together outside to bring new life and color to the cafeteria courtyard. Multiple gardens border the large enclosed outdoor concrete surface.

“We love the community,” Grace Church Director of Outreach Nikie Jezek told cleveland.com. “We want to continue to connect and support and encourage the kids, the families and the teachers.

“It’s important for us to know our children have a safe place not only to learn, but to see, explore and hang out.”

She said the project truly was a collaborative effort.

“It wasn’t just us coming in,” Jezek emphasized. “It was us supporting and cheerleading and really letting the school and the teachers do what they do best.”

Flowers, native grasses, cabbage and herbs were planted.

Sixth-grade social studies teacher Mike Pearl will assemble a team of students to maintain the gardens as the new school year gets under way.

“We’re going to teach some kids a little bit about how to take care of these plants by making sure they are watered, fertilized and weeded,” Pearl said.

“The plants are all perennials, so everything will be coming back on their own next year.”

Integrating the courtyard garden project into the classroom will enhance the student experience.

“The really cool thing is that everything we’re planting here will be used in the Family Living Skills class,” he said, noting that a salsa garden to harvest fresh tomatoes is under consideration. “We’re going to basically go farm-to-table.

“The students who were here today already said they want to go home, talk to their parents and see if they can start a garden or raised bed in the back yard to grow vegetables they can eat inside their house.”

Eighth-grader Indie Jacobs said the project “definitely was a lot of fun.”

“I liked just being outside and helping,” Indie said. “I’m planning to come back here when I’m in high school to still help with the gardens.”

Principal Tim Velotta was all smiles.

“I hope the kids see they really can make a difference,” Velotta said.

“The courtyard was falling apart before, but now it will be awesome and ready for kids on the first day of school. We can’t say thank you enough to Grace Church.”

Read more stories from the News Sun.

Source: cleveland.com