Flowers transform into trampolines and tunnels with a sprinkle of magic compost! Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew, a long-tongued moth, and a blue-banded bee as they explore all the different shapes of flowers.
Podcast: Gardening Australia Junior
Episode Title: Introducing Gardening Australia Junior
Duration: 10 minute 44 seconds
Child's voice: ABC Listen
Sounds: Birds, bees, and upbeat music.
Pia: Hey Costa! Thanks for agreeing to let us pick some flowers from your garden!
Romeo: Yeah, my nan is going to love these!
Costa: No worries, Pia! Anything for my Gardening Australia Junior Crew — and your nan, Romeo!
Pia: There are so many to choose from!
Romeo: I know my nan likes roses, but what else should we pick?
Costa: I reckon the best bunches have a good mix of cups, saucers and funnels.
Pia: Huh?
Romeo: I think he's getting flowers mixed up with things you find in the kitchen.
Costa: Haha — no — they're flower shapes. Growers and florists group flowers into cups, saucers, funnels, spikes, bells, tubes, trumpets, globes… you get the gist.
Pia: So that one over there looks a bit like the shape of a cup…
Costa: Yep! That's a tulip!
Romeo: And that one's round like a ball, so it must be a globe?
Costa: You got it! That's a Billy button!
Pia: Hmmm, whenever I draw a flower, I always put a circle in the middle and petals around the edge…
Costa: Like a daisy!
Pia: But when you think about it, that's a bit boring when there are so many other shapes I could choose.
Romeo: Yeah, I wonder why flowers come in so many different shapes?
Costa: I love that question! And I know just the thing that can help us find the answer! It's over here…
Pia: Ah… Costa… that looks like a compost bin.
Costa: Sure is! It's full of broken down earthy goodness that started out as scraps like banana peels and tea leaves. I'm just going to take the lid off.
Sounds: Pop as the lid comes off the compost bin. Followed by wind and scattering dust.
Romeo: Ooft, the compost is… escaping!
Pia: It's swirling through the air!
Romeo: And sprinkling across the garden!
Sounds: Magical swirls, shimmers and whimsical music.
Costa: A sprinkle here, a sprinkle there, makes the real world disappear…
All it touches will grow tall, and you will seem so very small!
Romeo and Pia: Woahhhh!
Sounds: Whooshing and swirling as the garden grows.
Pia: That rose bush is the size of a house!
Romeo: Stay away from the thorns!
Pia: And the sunflower is as tall as a giraffe!
Romeo: Costa, I think that compost bin had a lid on it for a reason!
Costa: Indeed! It was holding my magic compost! It makes everything supersized!
Pia: Everything except us?!
Costa: Exactly! And now we get to see the garden through the eyes of a minibeast!
Romeo: What'd you call me?
Costa: You know, like an insect! But don't worry, the compost wears off in a few minutes. In the meantime, we can explore the weird and wonderful shapes of the flowers in this garden, up really close!
Sounds: Boing boing boing.
Pia: Hey! Look at me! This leaf is like a trampoline!
Romeo: Let me have a go!
Sounds: Boing boing boing and laughter.
Costa: That's a great idea! We can bounce from leaf to leaf, over to those honeysuckle flowers growing on the fence. Ready?
Pia: Let's go!
Sounds: Boing boing boing and laughter.
Romeo: This is so much better than a jumping castle!
Pia: I want the leaves to stay ginormous!
Romeo: Me too!
Costa: We're almost there!
Sounds: Bouncing stops and new magical music starts.
Pia: Whoa! Is that a tunnel?
Romeo: It looks like a cave!
Costa: This is the opening of a honeysuckle! It's a trumpet shaped flower!
Pia: Toototoooot!
Romeo: Haha!
Costa: Let's have a look inside!
Sounds: Echoes and swuishy footsteps.
Romeo: Hello! (echoes)
Pia: It's getting dark.
Romeo: Whoa! What is this sticky stuff on the floor?
Pia: And the walls!
Costa: Aha! We've reached the nectar!
Romeo: It smells sweet!
Costa: Now, you should never put something from the garden in your mouth without checking with a grown-up if it's safe…
Pia: Is this safe?
Costa: It is! Have a taste!
Sounds: Slurping and swallowing.
Romeo: Yum!
Pia: I see why it's called a honeysuckle!
Sounds: Louder slurping.
Costa: Ok, I think we've all had enough now.
Romeo: That slurping noise wasn't me.
Pia: It's not me either.
Costa: Well, it's not me.
Sounds: Louder slurping.
Romeo, Pia and Costa: Ahhhhhhh!
Costa: Pia, Romeo, duck!
Pia: Is that a giant… worm?!
Romeo: I think it's a snake!?
Costa: It's not a worm OR a snake… it's a gigantic… long… tongue!
Pia: A what!?
Costa: It's a tongue! If you look back towards the entrance of the flower, you'll see what it's attached to.
Sounds: Flapping wings.
Romeo: Is that a… bird?
Pia: A plane?
Costa: Close! It's a moth!
Sounds: Wet slap.
Pia: Ah! The tongue got me!
Romeo: Yuck!
Costa: It won't hurt you! It's just looking for nectar.
Romeo: Move out of the way, Pia!
Pia: I'm trying!
Sounds: Loud slurping and swallowing.
Romeo: There you go — it's getting a good drink now!
Pia: I never knew a moth had such a long tongue!
Costa: This one does! It's called the Hummingbird Hawk Moth, and it needs a long tongue to reach inside trumpet and tube-shaped flowers.
Sounds: Retracting tongue.
Romeo: It's finished!
Pia: It must have a full tummy!
Sounds: Flying away.
Romeo: Catch you later monster moth!
Costa: Let's get outta here.
Sounds: Light footsteps.
Pia: I'm covered in moth spit.
Romeo: That's not something you hear every day.
Costa: Here we are… back at the honeysuckle opening. What other flowers take your fancy?
Romeo: How about that yellow one, down there?
Costa: Ooh good choice! That's a cherry tomato flower!
Pia: It's shaped like a star!
Costa: Sure is! Let's jump across the leaves to get there.
Sounds: Boing boing boing.
Romeo: Woohoo!
Pia: Weeeee!
Sounds: Bouncing stops.
Romeo: So where are the tomatoes?
Costa: They're not ready yet. But eventually these flowers will turn into fruit!
Sounds: Distant buzzing.
Romeo: Hey is that the moth coming back?
Pia: I only just dried off.
Sounds: Louder buzzing.
Romeo: That's not a moth!
Pia: It's a ginormous…
Romeo and Pia: BEE!!!
Costa: Hold onto the petals! This bee is about to… SHAKE things up!
Romeo: Is the bee going to sting us!?
Costa: No, this is a native stingless bee — the blue-banded bee to be precise — it's called that because of the blue stripes on its body.
Pia: It's coming for us!
Costa: Bunker down!
Romeo: It's the size of a jet!
Costa: Don't worry, it's not interested in us. It wants to snack on the grains of pollen inside the middle of this star.
Sounds: Buzzing, shaking and vibrating.
Romeo: (Stuttering) Is… there… an… earthquake… happening?
Pia: (Stuttering) I… think… we're… vibrating…
Costa: (Stuttering) It's… the… bee… it… gets… the… pollen… out… of the… flower… by… head…butting… it…
Romeo and Pia: (Laugh)
Romeo: (Stuttering): Head… butting?
Sounds: Shaking stops.
Costa: Phew. Yes. Headbutting. The blue-banded bee head butts the flower 350 times a second to shake out the pollen.
Romeo: 350 times a second?!
Costa: Yeah! It's so fast that it's just a blur!
Sounds: Buzzing away.
Pia: Bye Bluey!
Romeo: I hope your head isn't too sore!
Pia: Speaking of sore heads… is anyone else feeling a bit… dizzy?
Costa: Uh oh… the magic compost is wearing off! Quick! Let's slide down this stem back to the ground!
Sounds: Sliding followed by shrinking as the plants return to normal.
Romeo: Aw, the leaves are shrinking back to their normal size.
Pia: I want them to stay big so we can keep bouncing on them!
Romeo: Me too!
Sounds: Shrinking and swirling stops.
Costa: Too late.
Romeo: That was fun — I never thought I'd be able to climb onto, or inside, a tiny flower.
Costa: And that's why they're all different shapes!
Pia: Huh? So we can get into them?
Costa: Not us — minibeasts! Flowers contain food for bees, wasps, birds, flies, butterflies, moths… and they're all different shapes to fit the bodies and mouths and tongues of different creatures.
Tube-shaped flowers are designed for insects with long tongues, shallow flowers are for fliers with smaller mouths, beaked birds like funnels… and some tricky shapes need to be shaken up by special bees like our blue-banded buddy!
Romeo: I get it!
Pia: Hey, don't forget about your nan, Romeo — remember, we came here to get her some flowers?
Romeo: Appreciate the reminder… thanks a BUNCH.
Sounds: Laughter. New upbeat music begins.
Costa: Now, I have some advice to make your nan's bunch of flowers look beautiful.
Romeo: It's not your magic compost is it?
Costa: No. First, fill a vase halfway up with water.
Sounds: Water pouring into vase.
Pia: Done.
Costa: Now, you put greenery in — that's leafy bits and branches.
Sounds: Rustling.
Romeo: What's next?
Costa: Then, add your focus flowers — they're the ones you want to stand out — usually the biggest or brightest.
Pia: Like these pink roses!
Sounds: Rustling.
Costa: Finally, you fill in the gaps with what we call filler flowers — they're smaller ones.
Pia: Like this jasmine?
Costa: Perfect!
Romeo: Looks awesome!
Costa: And one more thing… picked flowers may look pretty, but it's always best to leave them on their plants for birds, bees and butterflies… if you do pick them, it should only be for special occasions.
Pia: Like Romeo's nan's birthday.
Costa: Yeah… and you should always get permission to pick flowers from someone's garden… and never pick native wildflowers from the bush.
Romeo: Got it. Thanks for letting us pick in your garden, Costa! See you next time!
Sounds: Footsteps.
Costa: Um, Romeo?
Romeo: Yeah?
Costa: You forgot the flowers.
Romeo: Oops! Sorry, it's been a big day.
Pia: And you didn't even get slurped by a monster moth.
Sounds: Laughter.
Disclaimer: Costa will not be sharing his magic compost recipe. Please do not sprinkle any compost, magic or not, on anything except soil. In fact, don't sprinkle compost anywhere without the help of a grown-up… you never know what might happen.