Sunflowers
There was a great disturbance in the old garden corner.
The asters were trembling with excitement. The whole
Pansy family looked with wide-open eyes on an unheard-of
state of things. Tall Phlox shook her head, and even the
grass blades in the border quivered with indignation.
"Think of it," said Purple Pansy, "here we have lived by
ourselves undisturbed so long, and now dear old Peony
is taken away, and those vulgar plants stuck in her place!"
Why I heard the old gardener himself say to the new man,
that they were only fit for hen's food! Just fancy...
to be placed among flowers like us! It is dreadful."
All the flowers shivered together at the thought,
"Decoration!" exclaimed tiny Mignotte. "Let them stay
and sadly shook their leaves. Presently Sweet Pea
said, "I, too, heard what old gardener said, and
the new one answered that they were fashionable
now, and were used for decoration."
where they are the fashion, and where they decorate
a place better than they can old Peony's."
It was plainly of no use to say a good word for the
strangers, who, when they came, were treated to nothing
but cross looks, and leaves turning their backs on them.
They were very cheery flowers, however, and when the sun
shone they revived from their wilted state of transplanting
and in spite of cold looks they smiled back at their
Sun friend.
In a few days they opened four new sunny blossoms,
and there was no denying it, they did brighten up
the old corner a good deal. Indeed, some of the flowers
were so surly and cross that the very bees forsook them,
and the butterflies, and they went to the new-comers
for their honey. In the great brown centers they
found plenty too.
One day Little Girl came down the walk with Baby in his
carriage. She stopped at her favorite corner, and the
flowers all brightened up, sure that she would not prefer
those glaring strangers to themselves. But they were
amazed to hear her say, "Oh, how pretty! Where did you
come from? What lovely flowers!" And Baby put out his
hands to the "booful fowers" too. Neither could stop to
look at any of the other flowers in their joy of the new
ones. All the scornful ones hung their head for shame,
and sadly acknowledged the beauty of the yellow strangers.
If any of them had been there in the Fall, they would have
seen the great triumph of the Sunflowers. For their dried heads
were taken to the nursery and made a blazing fire for the
children, who also ate their sweet brown seeds. So they
would have had to acknowledge that Sunflowers were far more
useful than they, if not so delicate.
E.S. Tucker, from the book
The midi is playing Meadow by Bruce de Boer
Buds and Blossoms, circa 1890.
from his Earthtone collection.
