Friday Flowers: Fairy Bells

Bleeding Heart

I grew up reading books by Enid Blyton. I started with her Noddy books and even had a 45 rpm record that featured her reading the stories. When I was able to read, I loved her book of short stories called Now For a Story, and when I was older, I read and re-read her Adventure series. My own daughters have read my books and we purchased paperback versions of several of her chapter books as they were growing up.

Wood Hyacinth or Spanish Squill

Enid Blyton wrote a number of stories about mythical forest creatures such as fairies, goblins and elves. I loved to imagine that these little people really existed under the leaves and flowers outdoors. Whenever I saw dust particles floating in a sunbeam, I believed they were fairies. (Maybe that explains my ongoing aversion to dusting.) When I was older, I enjoyed the symbolic fantasies of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and the descriptions of mythical creatures in their books.

Solomon's Seal

Junior Girl Guides were known as Brownies and I worked hard to earn my badges when I belonged to a troop. I still have my fairy pin and the wings I received when I graduated to Guides. We used to sing this little song as a two part or four part round. Perhaps you know it as well.

White coral bells
Upon a slender stalk.
Lily of the valley
deck my garden walk.
Oh, don’t you wish
that you could hear them ring.
That will happen only
when the fairies sing.

It is no wonder that little bell shaped flowers are favourites of mine.

A "long time ago", in the 1970's, hippies were turning into environmentalists. Jean skirts, long hair and tie dyed shirts were the rage and we shopped at the first health food stores and made homemade yogurt and granola. My friends and I used to visit a quaint local village to shop for antiques and have lunch.

We drank Earl Grey tea in a little cafe that always had bouquets of lily-of-the-valley and forget-me-nots on the tables in the spring. I still love these flowers together in a little container. The fragrance of lily-of-the-valley rivals lilac for beauty. When they are done blooming in my garden this spring, I will have to do some serious uprooting of their spreading ways.

I enjoy the back corner of my garden where the ferns, trillium, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Solomon's Seal, and other wildflowers grow. The toads love the moist shade, and perhaps some other little fanciful forest visitors come by as well...

I wonder...

I had written the draft for this post a while ago and then Jennifer wrote about Fairy Spies on her blog. She has a fine scientific mind, and a great imagination too!