24 Flowers to Create a Plant Zoo

I wish I could claim this idea as my own, but it is one I learned of a few years ago when I visited the University of Tennessee Gardens in Knoxville. They had several different gardens that would surely appeal to children, including a garden gnome village and a hobbit house to explore.  However, the garden that caught my eye was the Plant Zoo. The plant zoo was planted with varieties whose names referenced animals of all kinds. Sometimes the names were specific plant names, like Tiger Lily, but others were common names like Lambs Ear. The tags in the garden used outlines of the animal in the plant name. I love the concept and I think this would be easy enough to pull off in your home garden with your kids or grandkids helping. Such an easy way to get a child interested in a garden! The plant tags the University had, might not be easily replicated. However, if you want to ID your plants, I think clip art, Sharpies, river rocks, and mod podge would allow the kids to make rock markers for your zoo garden in no time!