Winter in the Children's Garden

The grade one class doesn't visit the garden in January. Its usually too cold for them. Yesterday I happened to stop by the garden to see how things were doing with the low temperatures we have had. When I say low its only just a few degrees below freezing, never much lower than that. We are pretty lucky living here on the west coast of British Columbia. The breezes off the ocean often protect us from severe winters.



Wasn't I surprised to see how well this Snapdragon was doing in the garden. We will definitely be keeping seed from this plant. It is in a position where it gets lots of sun unlike other parts of the garden.



The north facing part of the garden was very different. Here the frost is evident on the Foxgloves. Looks like we will have lots of flowers this summer. The bees love this plant.



It was frosty out as seen on this leaf. I love the frost patterns the ice crystals make. The mulch pathways crunched as I walked in the garden.



I love this rustic looking gate in the entrance to the children's garden.



Last summer some volunteers built this lovely arbor like structure to go over the gate. On each side it has a little bench, just big enough for two six year olds to sit. The children love sitting here just observing the garden. A roof will be placed on top. From what I have heard it will show all four season on separate quarters of the roof. I look forward to seeing how it turns out.
In February, the children will make their first trip to the garden again. We will do lots of observing and discuss the differences in the seasons.