Unique/exotic/interesting plants for my 9pyear-old son to grow?

miinva 5/11/2010, 9:01 pm

My son has requested an SFG of his own and I'd like to grow some strange and interesting plants in it Smile

Any suggestions? Hopefully they'll be edible and not genetically engineered Wink

Ha-v-v 5/11/2010, 9:12 pm

What does he like ? I know my sons always want to try the huge pumpkins and we will try again this year. They make beets that have rings in them alternating white and red. Maybe different types of carrots ? I know its camprn? is that the nic has a pic of all these different colors of carrots Smile

beautiful. What about sunflowers too Smile

No I wont suggest radio active foods Wink

not like gilligans island Smile

I love that episode where the seeds wash a shore Smile

Ask him what he likes and take him to the nursery and look at online seed places too Smile

Ha-v-v

miinva 5/11/2010, 9:14 pm

He's been looking through seed catalogs with me and he wants to plant it all! *giggle* He seems to like vegetables that are unusual colors and he's fascinated by the beans growing so fast and high and giving such high yields.

Ha-v-v 5/11/2010, 9:19 pm

Scarlet runner beans are ornamental and edible (like a green bean) , if planted in a teepee shape can make a place for him to hide, of course this would be outside an sfg, but the red flowers are pretty. I only got flowers last year, but that was my fault and soil Smile

The carrots, I really like those colors and Im going to look for those next year. I wish the best for him and you in this fun filled adventure ! Oh and I found blue adirondack potato seeds Im going to try, the potato is blue !
Have fun hunting for those plants
Ha-v-v

miinva 5/11/2010, 9:31 pm

Blue potatoes? Where did you find those seeds? I'd love to try some of those Smile

**timwardell** 5/11/2010, 9:31 pm

Nasturtiums might be an option. It's a flower that you can eat - the leaves and the petals! There are 2 types, a bush variety that gets about 12" tall and a vining variety that grows 6-8 feet! They have colorful flowers and are supposed to have a peppery taste similar to a radish. I'm letting mine get a bit bigger before I take a bit. ... Sunflowers are also a good choice because they come in many different colors, can grow REALLY tall depending on the variety, and are good companion plants for cukes, zukes, squash and melons.

**timwardell** 5/11/2010, 9:34 pm

regarding Blue Potatoes ... I'm growing some of those this year. They're called Adirondack Blue - but they look purple to me. thinking

I have an 8 year old and a 10 year old and they are looking forward to having purple mashed potatoes this fall!

Here's a link to seed: http://www.tuckertaters.com/p_d_ad_blue.html

Ha-v-v 5/11/2010, 9:39 pm

I knew someone else here was growing the blue adirondacks, I remembered that when I found the seeds at Lowe's. So glad you put a link in there Tim Smile

thanks I will have it for future too.
Ha-v-v

miinva 5/11/2010, 9:50 pm

Aren't there red potatoes too?

Patty from Yorktown 5/11/2010, 9:52 pm

Strange plants to grow is right up my alley. I hope these suggestions help. I agree with the scarlet runner beans. The only problem is they will not set beans until the weather is about 70 degrees, however they will grow clockwise around the support. Most vining plants grow counterclockwise. Purple pod beans are fun. They are purple until you throw them into boiling water. My boys have enjoyed yard long beans, as they can eat just one for dinner. I enjoyed dragons egg cucumbers, as they look like hard boiled eggs growing in the garden. How about a pot of mint, so he can munch on some mint in the garden, for that manner how about a stevia plant. It is a sweet herb. Have fun.

Patty in Yorktown

titans01 5/12/2010, 4:44 pm

My boys are going to try growing Tigger Melons which seem like they would be fun for a kid and good size for a SFG. http://rareseeds.com/cart/products/Tigger_Melon-246-37.html

miinva 5/12/2010, 4:51 pm

Thank you for the great ideas! I've been looking through the seed catalogs I received in search of oddities... I'll let you guys know what he decides to plant Unique/exotic/interesting plants for my 9pyear-old son to grow? Icon_flower

**Josh** 5/12/2010, 6:20 pm

If he likes beans, he might like the yard long beans, I liked them to eat.

I have some of the seeds for the 14 inch world record size carrots he can have if he would like to try those.

I wanted to get some of those molds you put on cucumbers and squash that makes faces on the vegetables, but I never did get any ordered, we did grow a square gourd one time by putting it in a square bottle, we had to break the bottle to get it out but it was cool looking!
Veggie face forms

miinva 5/13/2010, 10:46 am

I thought about trying yardlong beans. I even found red ones! Smile

That's really nice of you, Josh, I'm sure he'd love to try some of those carrots! I bet I can talk my husband into building him a special bed to try them in. I have some yellow mushroom bean seeds if you'd like to trade Smile

I hadn't heard of those molds, that's pretty cool!

milaneyjane 5/13/2010, 1:53 pm

Your son sounds like my 10 year old son. I let him go to Menards with me and look at the heirloom seeds. He picked out several that he wanted to try. He has been dying to try growing purple prince zinnia so he got some in his Easter Basket (and was THRILLED, LOL!), kaleidoscope carrots (mix of purple, orange white and red), a mexican bean that has stripes (can't find the package right now) etc... We are staying clear of certain hybrid seeds because he wants to save the seeds to replant next year. We also order these gigantic squash from Gurneys, again I am drawing a blank on the name.

**Josh** 5/13/2010, 3:52 pm

That sounds great miinva! I'm sending you a PM with more info.

bullfrogbabe 5/13/2010, 10:18 pm

What about some summer squash? There are a few different varieties that have interesting shapes -- moonbeam looks like a flying saucer as do some of the pattypans which can be colourful too. Yellow crookneck?

miinva 5/14/2010, 12:03 am

We grow pattypans and he loves them! I'll take a look at moonbeam Smile

Thank you for the idea!

I appreciate everyone's help Unique/exotic/interesting plants for my 9pyear-old son to grow? Icon_flower

junequilt 5/14/2010, 12:19 pm

Check out Malabar Spinach. It's a summer vining plant, and so beautiful that even if he doesn't like spinach, he'll appreciate this. Unlike real spinach, it thrives on heat and humidity so you can grow it concurrent with tomatoes and peppers.

miinva 5/14/2010, 12:38 pm

I have some of that in my garden Smile

A friend told me about it so I thought I'd try it this year.

jkdistad 5/14/2010, 2:29 pm

I'm going to be planting some "Bright Lights" swiss chard.... not terribly exotic, but it sure is colorful! Unique/exotic/interesting plants for my 9pyear-old son to grow? Icon_biggrin

here's a pic (if you're not already familiar)

Bright Lights Swiss Chard

pattipan 5/14/2010, 5:13 pm

miinva wrote:We grow pattypans and he loves them! I'll take a look at moonbeam Thank you for the idea!

I appreciate everyone's help

My profile picture has a picture of a pattypan squash called Flying Saucer. Weird shape, but one of the best tasting summer squashes we've tried.

Patti (a.k.a. pattipan)

**camprn** 5/14/2010, 5:51 pm

I love pattypans, I plan on growing these Unique/exotic/interesting plants for my 9pyear-old son to grow? White-patty-pan-squash

miinva 5/16/2010, 6:05 pm

That looks like the kind we grew, camprn. I don't know what variety they were, we got them from a local guy who told us they grew well here, so we bought a couple.

Thank you so much for the ideas! I really appreciate it Smile

PeggyC 5/28/2010, 5:57 am

not SFG, but for a cool house plant, check out Rope Hoya:

Unique/exotic/interesting plants for my 9pyear-old son to grow? Hoya%20Rope_jpg

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