Gardening guru, Costa Georgiadis, is here to share his wisdom about flowers + Fun ways to enjoy beautiful blooms with your preschooler.

BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

Costa Georgiadis is one of those people who’s instantly appealing to little learners!  

His super positive nature, great depth of knowledge and garden gnome style make him an awesome host of Gardening Australia Junior, and if you have a preschooler, then Costa’s Garden: Flowers is a great introduction to Costa, and to the blooms that make our world beautiful.  

As its name suggests, this book is all about flowers, and Costa has been kind enough to take us through it and share his favourite flowers, plus some fun flower-themed activities for under-fives. 

We hope you enjoy the Q&A below, and although springtime is famous for its blooms, you’ll see that there’s plenty of scope for flower power as we head into the cooler months.  

Enjoy!  

KINDICARE: Costa’s Garden: Flowers is your first children’s book. What inspired you to write this gorgeous garden adventure? 

COSTA: I wrote this book because I wanted to share some awe-inspiring stories of nature, and show children how to put their nature goggles on and see the world around them with different eyes. 

Children are naturally curious, and these eyes pick up the incredible details of everything around us – from a tiny insect and how it flies, to a flower that turns from a bud into a colourful pollinator magnet. 

Costa’s Garden takes children, parents and educators on an adventure, so you can dive deep into the incredible world of nature, and the amazing design and engineering behind it.  

On every page there’s a new layer to explore, and I’ve written this book to make us think, question and, most of all, be blown away by what’s right in front of us when we make the time to have a closer look. 

KINDICARE: You’re a landscape architect and environmental educator who loves all plants, but when it comes to flowers, are there any varieties that particularly steal your heart? 

COSTA: Sunflowers may seem like a predictable choice, but there is something about them that makes me feel the same level of happiness today as I felt the first time I ever saw one. 

I certainly like sweet peas, because their wonderful scent takes me straight back to my grandparents’ backyard, and they are memories that aren’t so much close to my heart, as actually part of my heart. Seeing and smelling them fills me with pure joy. 

Then, of course, there are all our Australian native plants and the flowers that they produce.  

Not a day goes by without me learning more about our native flowers, and Western Australian paper daisies are incredible flowers that I have learnt to grow.  

In Sydney, I also love the iconic flannel flower, which has such a lightness and happiness to it, with its very white-ish flowers that have a little touch of lime green in them. 

KINDICARE: Flowers are instantly appealing to preschoolers, because they’re pretty to look at and beautiful to smell, but what are some special flower-themed activities that little ones can do with their parents and educators? 

COSTA: There are so many fun, flowery activities, but five great ones are: 

1. Creating nature art using flowers and foliage collected from the garden.

This activity is a favourite because you can work with what you’ve got, and it’s ephemeral. 

You can make your art in the backyard or childcare environment, then simply allow it to be blown away, where it can break down and be returned to the soil. 

2. A flower fashion parade is always a lot of fun.

Participants just need to find some clothing with a flower or plant theme on it, then make flower necklaces, flower crowns and flower wristbands to go with it, before walking an imaginary catwalk like fashion superstars! 

3. Creating a flower mandala is another beautiful activity.

You use flowers, foliage and any flower cones, seeds or berries to create lots and lots of bands of colour on the ground.  

Then you can lay down, so that the mandala is like a crown around your head, and take photos from above. 

4. Pressing flowers and some light foliage is great too.

You can either use a dedicated flower press, or some heavy books with greaseproof paper. Then once your plants are flat and dry, you can glue them to paper as beautiful nature collages.  

Alternatively, you can turn them into greeting cards for special events like birthdays, Easter and Christmas.  

5. Flower arranging is also a fantastically creative activity.

You can arrange cut flowers and foliage as art in a vase, or bundle short-stemmed flowers into a beautifully-arranged bouquet to give to an educator, neighbour or friend.  
 
You can also add another layer to this activity by doing a still life drawing or painting of the flower arrangement, and this can make a special gift for someone as well.  

KINDICARE: Planting flowers is another wonderful activity for children and their grown-ups. As we head into the cooler months, which flowers do you suggest we put in the soil?   

COSTA: Autumn is the right time to prepare some pots or a small area of the garden to grow some paper daisies which will then come up and fill your heart with happiness and colour in late winter. 

It’s also never too late to plant some perennial basil or holy basil.  

The perennial varieties of basil literally flower the whole year round, which means they will be continually attracting pollinators, like bees, into your garden across every season. 

Banksias, such as the banksia spinulosa, and grevilleas all come into their own in autumn and flower prolifically. These flowering plants will bring honey-eating birds and parrots to your garden. 

Other autumn flowering performers include salvias, which come in all different sizes and shapes.  

Dahlias flower across autumn, and there’s always a flush of roses during this time.  

And, last but not least, alyssum is an easy-grow flowering plant, along with, of course, marigolds for colour. 

KINDICARE: Thank you for all these wonderful tips, Costa. They’ll definitely add colour and interest to our autumnal adventures, and as time goes by, how will the Costa’s Garden series grow? 

COSTA: At this stage it is a four book series, so after flowers, we will be exploring fruit and seeds, soil, and all those layers of life that make our planet the special place it is! 

KINDICARE: We’ll look forward to it, and it’s so great to see you sharing your knowledge and passion with our preschoolers, and everyone.