Commemorate Jamestown's 400th anniversary with red, white and blue flowers you can plant in a Godspeed planter created from a 2-liter plastic soda bottle.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — You need only red, white and blue flowers and an empty 2-liter plastic bottle to take your own Godspeed journey through history.

In honor of Jamestown's 400th anniversary this year, families visiting the children's garden at Norfolk Botanical Garden in Norfolk, Va., recently made planters that resemble Godspeed and the other ships that brought colonists to Virginia in 1607.

Here's how:

<B>Materials:</B>2-liter soda bottle, empty and clean<B>Scissors</B>1 piece drawing paper1 piece brown construction paperCrayons or markersGlue stickTape6 coffee stirrers1 cup small rocksPotting soilRed white and blue seed pack mix or red white and blue flowersDirections:1. Lay the soda bottle on its side and have an adult cut a hole in one side of the bottle so the opening is large enough to hold the flowers you want to plant.2. Cut two 8-by-2-inch strips from the drawing paper3. Create a design — think about what the colonists may have created for their ships — on the two strips, color them and glue the strips to either side of the bottle.4. Cut three small rectangles from the drawing paper and color them to look like the British flag — called the "The Union Jack."5. Cut sails from the brown construction paper (set aside)6. Tape together end-to-end two coffee stirrers. Repeat twice until you have three long stirrers.7. Cut small slits in the sails and the flags so you can slide the stirrers through them.8. Slide the stirrers through so the sails are in the middle of the stirrers, and the flags are at the top (set aside)9. Put rocks into the bottom of the bottle (the side not cut), then add potting soil.10. Arrange the three sails and flag stirrers in the boat to look like the sails of the Godspeed.11. Sprinkle the seeds around the opening of the bottle. Water sparingly and care for your seeds.Or, plant red, white and blue flowers in the bottle's opening, then position the sails and flag stirrers.Note: Before filling the planter with soil, you may want to also cut some tiny slits in the bottom so water drains out, or water sparingly to avoid rotting your plants.

Why red, white and blue flowers?To help celebrate Jamestown's 400th observance during 2007, Virginia Cooperative Extension encourages homeowners to create America's Anniversary Gardens in their yards, using annuals, perennials, shrubs and small trees with red, white and blue flowers, foliage and berries. A garden can be as simple as planting red, white and blue petunias in your favorite pot, hanging basket or Godspeed planter.Learn more. Visit www.ext.vt.edu/americasgarden for ideas and a list of red, white and blue plants.