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One of the dearest ways that kids learn to love flowers is to tickle them hands-on in the in the wild or in the garden: decorate themselves with them, pop them, tell the future, taste their hidden honey. Herewith, some old time favorites.
- “Touch-me-nots” (Jewelweed)
| Its flowers take the form of beguiling little orange cornucopiae, but ripe seedpods provide the irresistible draw: press the most swollen ones ever so lightly between thumb and forefinger, and instantly they explode inside-out, hurling forth their tiny seeds. |
- Dandelions
| Cut a mini-slit with your fingernail along the stem, then slide another dandelion stem through till its flower head stops it. Continue adding others to necklace length, or to make a little circular fillet for the hair. |
- Jack-in-the-pulpit
| Peek under the lovely cap striped like a Renaissance dandy’s silk trousers, and spy Jack. |
- Hosta
| Squeeze the fattest buds and hear them pop (naughty, but it doesn’t really hurt the plant.) |
- Daisies
| The classic for determining whether he/she loves you or loves you not. Pluck one petal at a time – alternating yes? and no?—until the last remaining petal yields the truth. |
- Nasturtiums
| Nip the little spur that emerges from the flower and suck its delicious honey. |
- A big crimson rugosa rose
| Too short lived and negligible-stemmed to serve in a vase, but fabulous as ornament on a gooey dark chocolate cake. (especially the “Decadent Chocolate Cake” from the Silver Palette Cookbook, scattered with wild raspberries.) |
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