Kay Hurley

Special to the News-Herald

With scarecrows of recycled materials as sentries, fading marigolds and newly planted bright yellow pansies greet children who attend the programs offered at the Children’s Learning Garden at Sleepy Hole Park. As the year draws to a close, children learn that the garden in winter still has a lot to offer.

Throughout the year, the monthly programs, offered by the Suffolk Department of Parks and Recreation and the Suffolk Master Gardeners Association, have focused on spring flowers, vegetables, bees, creating scarecrows out of recycled materials and more. Children have seen the seeds they have planted turn into flowers and vegetables, and now they are learning about the cycles of nature.

At the program on Nov. 3, Suffolk Park Ranger Cheryl Pisani and Master Gardener Collette Reeves explained the difference between seeds and bulbs, read garden stories, handed out seed necklaces and helped children plant spring bulbs. Children wrote their names on plastic spoons and inserted them into the soil by the bulb they planted. In Spring, they will know which flower they can point to proudly as their own.

The final program for the year will be Thursday, Dec. 2 at 10 a.m. Pisani and Reeves will help children understand how the once vibrant plants will continue their usefulness as food for hungry birds. They will also demonstrate ways to use recycled materials as bird feeders.

For more information or to reserve seats for the Dec. 2 program, call 538-4102.