WARREN (AP) – P is for prisoners planting peonies.

The Maine State Prison has begun a partnership program to address inmate illiteracy and proper parenting techniques by teaching them how to garden.

Outside the Maine State Prison on Tuesday, program partners said they would use a $25,000 grant from the Barbara Bush Foundation to buy seed, soil and fertilizer for a program called Seeds of Change.

“The program is designed to make learning to read fun through gardening,” said Mark Hutchinson of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, one of the partners promoting the program.

While learning to read, prisoners combine gardening knowledge with an “alphabet garden,” creating everything from azaleas to zinnias.

Maine State Prison has a 1,400-square-foot greenhouse where inmates start seed and divide mature plants that are shared with local communities. Prison employee Tony Grotton oversees the gardening program.