Aimee bought flower pots, paint, seeds and a greenhouse from Walmart to start an apartment garden on her second floor balcony. She planted sunflower, daisy and wildflower seeds and waited for them to grow. Questions arose about the best time to plant flowers, how long it takes for flowers to bloom, how much water sunflowers need, and how long plants can go without water. After about 3 weeks, the seeds started to sprout green shoots.

1. Apartment Garden Aimee Stout Education 373 Inquiry project

2. Experience During the summer, at home, I usually help plant flowers. These flowers are not in pots but in the ground. This summer I chose to stay in Evansville. My apartment is on the second floor. There were no flowers to be seen anywhere! So I went to Wal-Mart and bought a bunch of flower pots, some paint, seeds, and a “greenhouse.”

3. What season is best for planting flowers? How long will it take for a flower to pop up? How much water is too much water for sunflowers? How long can the flowers go without water? Questions that Arose

4. Sunflowers Wild flowers Daisies Types of Flowers

5. How it happened I bought the greenhouse from Wal-mart for $6. After about 3 weeks or so a little green started popping up. I planted seeds, watered them, and waited.

6. 4th grade 4.4.5 Observe and explain that most plants produce far more seeds than those that actually grow into new plants. 5th grade 5.4.4 Explain that in any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some do not survive as well, and some cannot survive at all. 5.4.7 Explain that living things, such as plants and animals, differ in their characteristics, and that sometimes these differences can give members of these groups (plants and animals) an advantage in surviving and reproducing. Indicators

7. How long can plants go without water? I learned this the hard way. Plants can live up to 1 week with out water Depending factors: Soil type Plant type Amount of rain How big of pot they are planted in Humidity Most of mine were able to go a week without water. I noticed that the ones that were closer to the edge of the balcony were in better shape than others because of the rain. After this week had went by I gave up on my garden…

8. “Check to make sure the sunflower does not get overwatered for an extended period. “ Sunflower guide.com How much water is too much for Sunflowers?

9. “Spring, summer and fall are wildflower planting times, depending on your region, your weather, and the way you want to approach establishing your meadow. No matter when or where you plant, site preparation is roughly the same. But the first consideration is not the season; it's your climate. “ americanmeadows.com What is the best season to plant flowers?

10. How long until a flower blooms? “..if you plant a mixture in, say October, you will see growth and bloom about 2-4 weeks earlier the following spring than if you had waited to plant your seed in May.” americanmeadows.com

11. Children’s books about planting flowers Flowers- Gloria Saunders-Smith Seeds- Gloria Saunders-Smith From Seed to Sunflower- Anita Ganeri The Gardner- Sarah Stewart

12. (2009, September 21). Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library. Retrieved from http://evpl.org (2009). Wildflower Seed Planting Instructions. Retrieved from http://www.americanmeadows.com/QuickGuideToWildflowers/WildflowerHowTo/WildflowerSeedPlantingInstructions.aspx (2007). Sunflowers. Retrieved from http://www.sunflowerguide.com www.amazon.com References