Little Plants for "the Littles"

Finding and gifting little plants to “the littles” (young children) is all of the following: fun, fanciful, nurturing, instructive in how to nurture…. The list goes on. Nevertheless, I venture to guess that most of us do not connect young children and plants quite enough. So, let’s change that.

I never called young children “littles” until recently. “Children”, “young people”, “toddlers”, “little ones”, and face it, “kids”—the term I most commonly used, and one that seems to have fallen out of favor—were terms far more common than “littles” until recently. But the name is sweet, so I will get with it and jump on the bandwagon.

The littles require instruction in just about everything they do. They are not just “coming up in the world”… no, they just entered it! And among many things begging for instruction is the understanding of basic plant care. This instruction can be made incredibly simple, and it can be made beautiful with the use of little plants such as Soleirolia Soleirolii, or Baby Tears.

If you think of the size of a baby’s glistening tear, then you know the size of a leaf from Soleirolia Soleirolii. Multiply that tear by a million or more, and you will have a Baby Tears plant. Baby Tears plants have absolutely miniscule leaves, but there are so many of them, densely positioned, the plant as a whole makes a pretty green (or, in the case of some cultivars, golden) statement. The tiny Baby Tears appear on very thin semi-succulent stems that drape and cascade. I find Soleirolia Soleirolii perfect for any container in which I desire a graceful swoop of foliage.

Those of us who would like to gift and teach little ones about plants must first begin with education about not putting greenery or flowers near their mouths. Certainly, we eat many, many plants, but getting into that discussion confuses things when you are trying to gift a small plant to a young person in your life. “No taste tests with garden or container plants” should be the mantra, but I will let you turn my strong words into something with a bit more finesse. Still, even though I know I will do a lot of instruction in this area, for young children, I like to choose plants that are known to cause no upset. Soleirolia Soleirolii is one of those plants… known to be “okay” for pets and humans… nevertheless, no tasting!

Baby Tears cascade from a dense mat of foliage, and this makes Soleirolia Soleirolii a good choice for filling a child-oriented container. I think we have all seen adults “planting a truck” or a similar toy—great way to put an “old favorite” to new use so that it can enable a child to learn about plant care while calling back good memories.

Here, I show a photo of a “planted” truck with miniature plants that are not as ideal for gifting to children as a Baby Tears plant would be. But in this case, I did not have Baby Tears, though I wished I did: Soleirolia Soleirolii would sit in a toy truck looking like a full load of green gravel, heading out to the work site. It would be just slightly mounded at the top, spilling over the sides of the truck. Oh, how I wish I had had it when I did this “plant-a-truck” work.

Now, truck, toy boat, tiny doll carriage, sand pail… the opportunities to fill an “old favorite” toy with a new plant are many. Because you will not have drainage holes in any of these toys (unless there was some really rough play), you’ll either do a little drilling or—my choice—add pebbles for drainage, before adding the soil that accompanies your plant. 

You can discuss how to check the Baby Tears plant for what it craves. In this case, and in the case of many other plants, you will want to caution your little ones not to overwater. You might also want to write some care tips on a popsicle stick or a laminated card—do a simple lamination using strips of clear packing tape, with the strips slightly overlapping one another to make each side durable and waterproof. Place the card in the soil so that the care tips will be there at all times.

Little ones, little plants, little gestures—big, big, BIG learning. Will you be taking the first steps toward creating a horticulturist? Will you be sparking the interests of a future landscaper? Will your little person turn into a talented adult gardener? Perhaps. No matter the much-later outcome, the lessons in nurturing will be used by your little person right away and will spread to even more than just plants. And this is well worth an old toy, a plant, and a little bit of time.