Little People's Page

I offer a variety of classes for under 16s.   Crystal club   -  8 - 12 year olds  and 13 - 15 year olds.  Once a month. Reiki training Meditation   Dates and times by arrangement.   Other classes can be arranged such as nature classes Please enquire for further information.

The fairy in my garden     There’s a fairy at the bottom of my garden Yes really she is there Can’t you see her in the long grass Peeping out - just over there   She comes to see me every morning As I go to feed the birds And watches as they come to feed And smiles just hiding there.   I wonder am I the only one With such a lovely friend Maybe you have a fairy too Can you see her - just over there? Tina Biles (c) 2009

Although it has been really cold recently the plant world is beginning to grow.  When you are outside see what plants you can identify that are beginning to grow.  Make sure you do not go into anyone's garden, of course, but you can see plants as you walk past other houses or look when you are in the countryside.  So what sort of plants grow in the late winter and early spring?  Let's think about two sorts of plants.

Firstly there are bulbs.  A bulb forms underground and is made up from the plants stem and leaves and these form an underground store of all the energy that is contained in the plant.  Over the winter the bulb stays underground getting ready to grow in the spring.  The bulbs know when the weather and other conditions are right for them to grow so if you live in the south of England you will see these plants earlier than if you live in the north.  The first thing you will see is a spike of green shoot poking up out of the ground.  At first this new shoot may be hidden by the dead leaves and other old plant bits that are left on the surface of the earth.  This old material helps to keep the soil warm and lets nutrients (food) wash down into the soil when it rains.

Types of flowers that come from bulbs that you will see in the winter/spring are snowdrops, daffodils and later tulips.

Other plants also die down and live underground in the winter and they form things called rhizomes and corms.  Each of these store energy like bulbs but look different.
Rhizomes form long, tough stems that grow flat along under the ground and leaves grow up from them.  Iris plants grow from rhizomes.  Corms are formed as swellings on the stem and each year a new one is formed on top of the previous years.  Crocuses grow from corms.