I really do not have a green thumb and don't know too much about this, but my daughter is always picking flowers and she got so excited when I told her I was going to buy her own little flower to plant.... we live in an apartment and do not have a balcony for really good sunlight but we can set it on the window sill.... what is a flower that needs minimal sunlight and fairly easy to grow.... I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance! : )
marigolds- hearty and relatively quick germination. You should buy a pack and then 3 or 4 containers because they can get pretty big!
you can go to the store and there are all kinds of little kits for kids, they're great. petunias or marigolds would be nice, and super easy. all the seeds or baby plants will have a tag that tells you how much sun and water it needs, as well as how big it gets and what kinds of blooms to expect...
Impatiens grow well in the shade and come in many different colors.
Pepper plants grow great in pots and you could eat them. I bought a packet of mixed seeds to grow rainbow bell peppers. My daughter was excited about them. Or go to Lowes or Home Depot, they have flower growing kits for kids. We got one, it was a mickey mouse flower pot with dirt and multi colored flower seeds already in it, all we had to do was water it.
A container of pansies or impatients mixed with some ivy. They would do perfect in a minimal sun area and they have pretty blooms! They don't take a lot of work to care for either. :)
In addition to flowers, you might want to try herbs. My 3.5 yr old always gets excited to add "her" cilantro/mint/parsley when we cook, and there are plenty of "window sill" herb garden hits available....
Minimal sunlight? Oh, do hanging baskets of fuschias and verbena mixed together. Hanging baskets need regular watering (fun for her) and the fuschias have cool little 'balloon' type buds before flowering/ full flowers are fun and can be pressed and the verbena will make a more typical flower for her.
Go get some cheap starts and go for it. Some nurseries or plant sellers do offer specials where "you buy the plant and the pot and we'll plant it for you". Get it planted up now for great blooms in summer.
This is a time to go to your local plant nursery and ask. I imagine that in North Carolina lots of things grow easily, but I'm not sure what. Perhaps petunias? They're user-friendly. But your daughter might enjoy seeing all the flowers at the nursery. The store people can tell you what will grow best with the amount of light that you have.
Impatiens and Marigolds are nice, but they don't smell very good.
I suggest pansies and petunias.
