Flowers and the Children by Lora E. Clement

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 27, 1916

Flowers and the Children

By Lora E. Clement

LORA E. CLEMENT

A tiny little lass of four, with golden “turls” and eyes like the sky, went to town with me one day. Entering a large department store, we passed the flower stand, where long-stemmed roses, fragrant carnations, sweet peas, gay jonquils, modest violets, and shy arbutus nodded and smiled a welcome.

“O-o-o-o!” she cried, enraptured, and the dainty feet fairly danced up the aisle, “tould we buy some of those, and those, and those?” pointing from one to another.

“Well, let’s see if we don’t find something you would rather have,” I suggested, and at last she reluctantly turned away.

Tempting candies and cakes were passed with casual notice. Gay doll babies, resplendent in spring attire, seemed to have lost their charm, and the dimpled little hand that clung to mine pulled persuasively toward the south entrance. A pleading little voice coaxed, “Let’s do back. Do you tink the flowers might all be done?”

And when at last we made our purchase, her cup of happiness was almost full. With a contented sigh she fairly hugged the fragrant blossoms, and murmured as she touched the delicate petals lovingly, “I dest wish I could teep them always!” Later, I noticed the dried-up stalks and withered blooms carefully planted in a window box.

Frequently during the winter, when Margaret came to pay me a call, she chattered of “the darden daddy and me are doin’ to make.” Then one day we saw the first robin, and I heard an excited tap upon my door. A dancing little lady, blue eyes shining, stood outside.

“Tan’t you tum out and see my bul-lubs? They’re tummin’ up to blossom in our yard!”

And sure enough the “darden” had become a reality.

Does a neighbor’s yard tempt our girlie? Indeed! No grass is so soft, no shade so tempting, no flowers so “bootiful,” as those at home. One afternoon I heard her cordially inviting a little friend to “tum over and play.” “Be-tause,” she explained later, “the poor little dirl hasn’t dot any drass or trocuses at her house, and her touldn’t have a dood time there, tould her?”

To a few people all life is dreary and commonplace, but not to the child. He will pick out the brightness that comes his way, stand radiant in a small patch of sunshine, and make the most of it while it lasts. Margaret is not an exceptional child, but she is a merry little girl, laughing, playing, and helping “muver” the livelong day. Often I have wondered if she did not catch this spirit from the things-beautiful in nature which she has been taught to admire and appreciate.

Little people naturally enjoy pleasant surroundings, and the influence of such environment can hardly be overestimated. Isn’t it lots more fun to make mud pies on the green grass, in the shade, than by the roadside in the boiling, stabbing sun?

What youngster would not rather hold a tea party or a menagerie, swing, play ball or hobbyhorse, or do almost anything, among grass and trees than anywhere else? Such surroundings must prove a help toward comfort, good nature, and in solving some of the problems of discipline.

And flowers! what yard was ever complete without them! It is not necessary to break the stretch of green, velvety lawn in front, but at the sides and back of the house, there, “when it’s blossom time in springtime,” we may provide for a perfect riot of color all the summer through.

An all-summer bulb bed offers large possibilities. Those that begin the summer—snowdrops, scillas, daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, and puschkinias—must of course be planted in the fall; but there are many bulbs which can be put out in the spring, and continue the procession from June until September. Lilies—regal, white and pink; elegans, red and yellow; candidum, white; canadense, yellow; Henryi, orange; auratum, white spotted with red—will give you this constant wealth of blossoms. Some of these early spring bulbs bloom surprisingly soon after being set out, among them these dainty zephyranthes, often called fairy lilies. If these bulbs are planted about the middle of May, they bloom in two or three weeks. This is also true of the ismene.

“Most people are familiar with calla lilies as house plants, but do not expect to see them in the garden. Of course the common calla is not suited to outdoor culture in the North, but the newer yellow calla (the Elliottina of the catalogues) is a splendid garden flower. The blossoms are a deep golden yellow in color, while the foliage is green, spotted with white in a most peculiar manner. If the bulbs are planted as soon as danger of frost is past, they will flower most of the summer. In the fall they must be taken up and stored in a dry, cool place. At present the bulbs cost twenty cents each.”

Gladioli are now enjoying a growing popularity, and this is well deserved; for if given plenty of sunlight, they will grow in almost any soil. Before the bulbs are put into the ground, they should be soaked for ten or twelve hours in tepid water, as this will greatly increase their rapidity of growth. With cultivation once a week, and plenty of water, there is practically no uncertainty about obtaining a great mass of bloom, and they are unsurpassed for cut flowers, lasting a week or ten days.

Did you ever have a rose bed? Properly made and tended, it is a thing of beauty and of unending joy. “The rose is a universal plant,” and not only grows in some variety in every climate, but lends itself to a greater number of uses than any other flowering shrub. This is especially true of climbers. They may be used to advantage for hedging, and woe to the person, or dog, or cat, or chicken that tries to force an entrance. As a screen, climbing on porches, etc., they serve admirably, for they hold their foliage till frost time. And when they bloom! As a cover plant for old stumps, eyesores that cannot be removed, and fences as well, these modern climbers serve beautifully. There is the American Beauty, American Pillar, and Aviateur Bleriot; and if you do not care for the Crimson Rambler type, try the Dr. Van Fleet, Mary Lovett, Mrs. Lovett, Silver Moon, Purity, Alberic Barbier; or there are a host of others. A neighbor has in his yard an old tree stump fifteen feet high, now covered with an Excelsa rose. “It is a waving mass of green leafage for seven months of the year, and for nearly four weeks carries its bright crimson load of lovely flowers.” So why not plant roses somewhere this spring, and entertain “the queen of flowers” during the summer months to come?

The modern craze for perennials has relegated many of our beautiful annuals to the background. But nothing can steal the charm of a sociable pansy bed in some damp, cool corner. And how the little folks love to look into their bright faces, and gather the velvet blossoms! A yard without a trellis of Aurora Spencer sweet peas misses such a lot of dainty fragrance; and if you plant these, you may have fresh cut flowers on your table every day, without extra expense, all summer. California poppies, “lovely fairy cups of gold; gay-colored phlox; the reliable and ever-fragrant petunias, which bloom incessantly until late autumn; and for late summer the frost-defying aster,—all these will add much to the attractiveness of any yard or garden.

The lure of spring is in the air. Pure joy is running rampant out of doors, and in every childish heart there is an ardent wish, a genuine longing, to “make garden” with father. For the boy or girl with this ambition, the “Mary Frances Garden Book,” published by The John C. Winston Company, of Philadelphia, will prove of absorbing interest. “In the simplest possible words and style, and in the most fascinating kind of story, this book actually teaches the children how to grow their favorite flowers and vegetables—how to prepare the soil, how to plant the seeds, how to plant the bulbs, the names of parts of flowers, how plants grow by fertilization, how to make a hot-bed, what flowers and vegetables are best for their gardens, and gives an outline of each month’s work for a year.” Along with this it instils a love for the beautiful in nature, and an appreciation of plant and animal life.

Added to these things which contribute beauty and interest to home out of doors, we somehow associate with every yard where children thrive, a sand pile, a swing, and a playhouse (if it is no more elaborate than a large packing box) that the children can claim as their very own. Now is the time to begin to plan; “for it’s springtime, and the blossoms whisper to you everywhere.”