Summer Adventures with Kate & JR by Edith Hawkins Page B

it grew. The bed would be beautiful and attract birds, bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Every flower would be a source for gathering seeds, pollen, and nectar.
    As they were planning the bed, Grandma told Kate, “Not only will we have beautiful flowers to pick, but it will be great to provide food for our little visitors.”
    â€œI like that. And I can give some flowers to Mom when she picks me up.”
    Grandma Sue set a box of seed packets on the table. “I have seeds for wildflowers, zinnias, and sunflowers. Which do you like best?”
    Kate looked at the seed packets. The flowers pictured on the fronts of the packets were beautiful, with all shades of yellow, orange, red, pink, blue, white, and even green. “I like the sunflowers the best,” Kate told her grandmother as she held up two packets of seeds. Each packet showed a large flower with bold yellow petals and dark seeds in the middle.

    â€œYou are officially in charge of the sunflowers, Kate!” Grandma Sue said. “Read the backs of the packets to find out how to plant the seeds.”
    Kate read the information on the back of each packet and soon realized that she had two different kinds of sunflowers. One would grow four feet tall, but the other would be six to eight feet. “I had better plant the taller ones in the back row and the shorter ones in the next row. What will we plant in front of the sunflowers?” Kate asked.
    Grandma Sue held up the packets of zinnia and wildflower seeds. “I think these will work well in front and provide flowers for cutting.”
    Kate agreed. “I can’t wait to get started. Has Grandpa Jim finished plowing the bed?”
    â€œYes, it is time for us to gather all the grass and weeds. We don’t want those in our special bed,” Grandma said as she handed Kate a pair of gardening gloves. “We will use gardening rakes. I have the perfect one for you. Let’s go to the potting shed and get our gardening tools.”
    Grandma Sue handed Kate a rake that was just right for her. The handle was shorter than Grandma’s and the rake was lighter. Off they went to the flower bed and started to work. The rakes made the job easy, but there were still some weeds that needed to be pulled by hand. Finally, she and Grandma Sue looked over the bed and decided their work was done. They asked Grandpa Jim to plow through the bed one more time. “It’s ready,” he said. “Plant those seeds.”
    Kate planted the sunflower seeds, one by one, ten inches apart, as the instructions suggested. She planted the taller sunflowers in a row at the back of the flower bed and the shorter ones in the next row. Grandma Sue planted two rows of zinnia seeds next. Then they scattered the wildflower seeds over the remainder of the bed and covered the seeds lightly with sand. Grandma Sue took a thin, wooden board about two feet long and placed it over the wildflower seeds. She pressed the seeds into the ground with the board.
    â€œIt’s time to water the bed. Kate, would you like this honor?”
    Kate sprinkled water over the bed with the garden hose until the ground was wet. “Our work is done for the day,” said Grandma. “We will check the bed every day and water it when it is dry. With the warmth of the sun, we should see the plants start to emerge very, very soon.”
    Kate took a photo of the freshly planted flower bed. She placed the empty seed packets in her journal and wrote down what she and her grandparents had done that day.
    Kate remembered she could only visit two days a week for the rest of the summer. This would be the only full week that she would spend at her grandparents’ home. “Who will water the bed if I am not here?”
    â€œDon’t worry, Kate. I will water the bed, when needed, on the days you are not here.”
    The next morning, after she finished breakfast, she raced from the car to check on the flower bed. It