![LESSONS FROM THE PAST](https://cdn.magzter.com/1596011659/1704205666/articles/m-3w3PTXq1704282105569/LESSONS-FROM-THE-PAST.jpg)
HAVE YOU EVER SHARED your love of gardens and gardening with children, your own or someone else's? It can be as simple as showing a three-year-old how to make a snapdragon flower open and close its "mouth" or as involved as working with a thirdgrade class to plant a three-sisters garden (corn, pumpkins and beans, organized as Native Americans traditionally did, with beans vining up cornstalks and pumpkins spreading below to shade the soil).
Whatever the gardening wonders or techniques being shared, the impulse is often the same: the belief that children benefit from direct learning in the natural world. A garden offers a great place to do that.
While that belief has inspired much informal sharing about plants, it also undergirds a long tradition in the field of formal education. One such initiative, which enjoyed unusual longevity and reach, was the Nature Study Movement. Active in the United States from about 1890 to 1930, Nature Study proponents emphasized outdoor experiences and direct observations of plants, animals and natural phenomena, such as cloud forms and weather patterns.
NATURE STUDY: WHY AND HOW
Nature Study was designed as one way to reform elementary public education in the US. Those reform efforts advanced progressive ideas, such as every child deserves an education that includes fluency with local natural history and hands-on science.
This story is from the January - February 2024 edition of Horticulture.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January - February 2024 edition of Horticulture.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
![WEEDING OUT WORRY](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/22795/1736063/8zb1rZvX51718803445529/WEEDING-OUT-WORRY.jpg)
WEEDING OUT WORRY
Two books give perspectives on gardening's importance to mental health
![Prized Perennials](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/22795/1736063/R6HvTloMt1718802795202/PRIZED-PERENNIALS.jpg)
Prized Perennials
GAPS IN THE GARDEN? TRY ONE OF THESE AWARD-WINNING PLANTS AS A SAFE-BET FIX
![A TOAST TO CORK](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/22795/1736063/W4Ota6t7j1718803750852/A-TOAST-TO-CORK.jpg)
A TOAST TO CORK
A trip to Portugal inspired Greg Coppa to peel back the botany of the cork oak
![THE GARDEN CENTER'S GRIP](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/22795/1736063/DFopeTOqj1718803334523/THE-GARDEN-CENTERS-GRIP.jpg)
THE GARDEN CENTER'S GRIP
SOMETHING WEIRD HAPPENS when gardeners enter a garden center. We change. Suddenly, somehow, we're overcome with this vague yet powerful, transcendental feeling of liberation, and we become aware of money we probably have and hopefully won't otherwise need.
![OUTSIDE OF THE BOX](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/22795/1736063/IYwwjdygg1718802371617/OUTSIDE-OF-THE-BOX.jpg)
OUTSIDE OF THE BOX
AS BOXWOOD BLIGHT DAMAGES THIS STAPLE EVERGREEN, IT'S TIME TO LOOK AT WORTHY ALTERNATIVES
![NEW MOUNDING ANNUALS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/22795/1736063/H0hnN2t0T1718801669861/NEW-MOUNDING-ANNUALS.jpg)
NEW MOUNDING ANNUALS
Also known as summer snapdragons, angelonias produce spikes of outward-facing flowers throughout the hottest, most humid time of the year.
![AN ANNUAL AFFAIR](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/22795/1736063/dg8Qx7iJQ1718801168950/AN-ANNUAL-AFFAIR.jpg)
AN ANNUAL AFFAIR
Combine a designer's best advice with the year's new varieties for a summer's worth of showstopping containers
![A Big Role for SMALL GRASSES](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/22795/1736063/8Z_fuHQli1718800880661/A-BIG-ROLE-FOR-SMALL-GRASSES.jpg)
A Big Role for SMALL GRASSES
The unexpected benefits of small native grasses
![GOLDENSEAL](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/22795/1736063/X7dhDmyVL1718800599099/GOLDENSEAL.jpg)
GOLDENSEAL
A woodland herb worth guarding
![RICHARD HAWKE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/22795/1736063/DY2WNJ_wX1718799613228/RICHARD-HAWKE.jpg)
RICHARD HAWKE
Try and try again