Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea said she thought they might

Give her a dress that wasn't white;

So Mother Nature chose for her

All the colors that there were.

       Assemble a mini doll sized book: Right, is the Sweet Pea's illustration and verse. Visitors can collect all the flower illustrations and verse from "Flower Children" to print and construct a small book of verse for their dolls. Simply drag each png. into a Word Document, print, cut out all of the images the same size and staple the pages together at the left edge. Squeeze out some white school glue along the stapled edge of the pages and attach a cardboard cover.

The scientific name for Sweet Pea is Lathyrus odoratus. Read more about this blossom here.

Back to the Flower Children Index. 

Sweet Pea — The Peacock

       "You use a little pretended magic when you turn a sweet-pea blossom into a peacock, and that makes it seem more mysterious and more interesting. It doesn't take a second but while you are doing it you must repeat this transformation rhyme:

 

Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea,
Your petals unlock.
I turn two down.
And you're a peacock."

       Pick out a fine, large sweet-pea blossom. It doesn't matter about the color. If you have a number to choose from, suit yourself. Hold the flower in your left hand by its stem and recite the first two lines: "Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea, Your petals unlock."
       Then as you reach around to the back of the flower with your right hand and put your thumb on one curled petal, X, and your first finger on the other curled petal, Y , finish the rhyme: "I turn two down, And you're a peacock." and at the same time turn these petals down as they are. You will see right away that the turned-down petals at the sides are the wings, the upright petal at the back is the tail, and the closed middle part is the body." The Beard Sisters

Left, "Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea, Your petals unlock"
Right, "I turn two down and you're a peacock."

This Sweet Pea paper doll was designed by Elise Reid Boylston.