Peanuts
Garlic
Money plant (Lunaria)
Pond Scum = string algae; just leave a bucket of water around long enough, it'll come on its own. Add water hyacinth or duck weed and watch it go away.

Don't forget Venus flytrap and other insectivores. They are easy to grow and fascinating. A sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica)is also nice.
They all fit a window sill.

Ethan

Passiflora. The flowers look like they're "out of this world". Check out the passiflora forum and gallery.
Sanda

Have you thought about introducing 'weird' textured plants? Lambs ear, a thistle and definitely a mimosa pudica. How about cosmos to go with the theme? Celosia always looks like an alien to me, as does a growing potato (although not really for the windowsill) (Good idea on the passiflora, Sanda!)

Good luck with the project -
Samantha

The first plant that ever grabbed my attention was a purple passion plant in the middle of a grocery store aisle. I begged my mom to buy it, which she did. It didn't survive, but it definitely planted a passion for gardening in my little heart. I like your idea, and I believe it will definitely have the desired effect.

By the way, you might include some type of stinky plant. Boys would probably get a kick out of it. We had an ornamental pear (?) tree that had flowers that smelled like fish. It was horrible, but I couldn't keep my son away from it.

There is a great Kids book on plants in a comic book like style, called "Weird things you can grow" Illustrated by Phoebe Gloeckner.

One of the plants it mentions is the Carrion Flower.

How Fun!!

I've never grown them, but I've seen them - I believe they're called Chinese Lantern.

- shrimp plant really looks like shrimp.
- haworthia 'star window' has translucent window-like leaves that are fascinating.
- haworthia 'zebra' is another really cool haworthia
- aeonium schwarzkopf is a beautiful, striking purple color
- lamb's ear is soft and cuddly
- many kalanchoe varieties are quite hairy and strange-looking.
- and then there's horsetail plant. its a very tall, strange, almost reed-appearing plant, but it is extremely aggressive, and once it flowers (which doesn't look like a flower, but more a swelling at the tip), it sends out spores and it is never to be gotten rid of.

i have found my favorite strange plants by going to places that sell succulents and just browsing for what looks unusual.

In our garden center, Allisonville Nursery, they sell what appears to be a succulent plant (but they have it with the herbs) called Vicks Plant. It is hairy, has weird-shaped thick leaves, and it smells like Vicks Vaporub when you rub the leaves. That would look and smell weird and spacey.

Also what about aluminum plant (houseplant) with its silvery leaves?? Very spacey!

Orchids are great in warmer climates or as an exotic indoor plant.

While studying weird plants find out which ones are poison.

Bronze fennel is light and airy, and smells like licorice. The kids love to pick it and smell it. Cheap and easy, but sets lots of seeds.

How about allium giganteum? They are so big and round, kids are awed by them. (and want to pick them of course.)

I have always thought that dill looks funky.
Snapdragons, I believe are the ones that you can squish the flower in the right place and they will open and close their "mouth"
A purple cabbage plant might be fun. the kids could watch it grow then get to eat it!
Mint is fun to smell and eat, plus you can cut it and let them see the perfectly square stem.
Pitcher plants have unusual shapes and diet!
Any of the unusual colors for normal plants-black calla-would be interesting. They will be able to make the connection to flowers they've actually seen.

It sounds like a great idea! Good luck