Dear bonny little blossoms
A-snowing o'er the field,
The winds waft wide your welcome
To Folk who wish your yield.
 |
| White Forget-Me-Not growing wild in the field. |
You all know the wild White Forget-Me-Not. I think every child loves it. It looks so sweet and clean, shining up from the ground, that you want to be just like it. What do you call it?
The Spanish Californian children used to call it nievitas. That means "little snow flowers." A field of White Forget-Me-Not does look like a field of snow.
Have you ever seen snow? If you have not, look at the next field of White Forget-Me-Nots and play that they are snow. Though they will look like snow, they will not feel like it and they will not act like it. Snow is cold. Snow melts when the warm sun shines upon it, and soon runs away as water. Then there is no snow.
The White Forget-Me-Nots love the sun. When the warm sun shines upon them, they send out more and more blossoms. Then, there is a whole field of White Forget-Me-Nots and that looks like snow.
The children in the Sierra Nevada Mountains call White Forget-Me-Not "Popcorn." A field of it does look like a field of popcorn!
Children often find very good names of their own for flowers they love. The children who call White Forget-Me-Nots "popcorn" eat the flowers to get the sweet syrup they hold.
Mrs. White Forget-Me-Not makes this sweet stuff to be eaten, but not by children. No indeed. She wants it to be eaten by some creature who can help her make good seeds. She makes a great lot of it in each flower. The wind carries the fragrance of it away from the field. Soon the wind passes a bee and it gets a whiff of this sweetness.
"Buzz-z-zz." She nearly falls on her back, she is so excited. "That is the sweetest air I have met today. I must follow it up to see what it comes from."
She keeps her nose to the wind. Then winging fast and singing fast, she soon reaches the field of White Forget-Me-Nots.
"Buzz-z-z-zz." Her voice sounds happy. "This is just where I want to be."
Down she flies onto a little White Forget-Me-Not. Its feast is soon eaten, and she goes to the next flower. From the stamens, she takes some pollen and fills her pollen bags. Then, winging fast and singing fast, she gets home to her hive.
"Buzz-z-z-zz," she calls to all her fellow bees.
"Come with me! Come with me! The wind led me to a heavenly pasture. We can fill our hive in one sunshine."
"Buzz-z-z-zz! Buzz-z-z-zz," the fellow bees cry. "Lead the way. Lead the way!" Bees always believe what a fellow bee says.
And, winging fast and singing fast, hundreds of bees soon arrive at White Forget-Me-Not field. You'd better not get in their way. They do not wish to hurt you, but their work has to be done while the sun shines.
If you interrupt Mrs. Bee's work, she will buzz "Get out of my way! Get out of my way!" several times in great excitement.
If you do not obey quickly, "BUZZ!" comes sharply, and you are stung. Then you do get out of her way. It is always best to obey Mrs. Bee the first time she speaks.
Mrs. White Forget-Me-Not knows that if her flowers bloom a long time, she will have more chance of visitors. She does not spread her buds out on the stems. Just look at a flower stalk. See how it is curved around inward. Only the outside buds can receive the sunshine. They will bloom first into flowers. It takes sunshine to make a pretty flower just as it takes sunshine to make a pretty child.
When the first flowers have been visited by the insects, then the stem uncoils a little and lets the next buds face the sunshine. Then they bloom into flowers and their honey is eaten. Then the stem uncoils a little more and lets other buds get warmed by the rays of the sun. After a while, the very last bud is blossomed. Then, the stem is a straight line. If your Father has an old watch spring you can play with, put it on the table beside a Forget-Me-Not stalk. Draw them both.
White Forget-Me-Not does not throw aside the calyx with the corolla. She wants it to keep the growing seed-case safe. It is not only the cold or the wet that might harm the baby seeds. Sometimes a caterpillar crawls up a nice little green stem. He eats the seeds if he finds them soft and easy to get. The White Forget-Me-Not has no use for caterpillars. They would never help her. So she makes her stems hairy to give them a rough road to travel. She makes her seeds nut-like. They are not easy on a caterpillar's mouth. Mr. Caterpillar soon lets himself down to the ground and seeks an easier meal.
When Forget-Me-Not's seeds are ripe, they have a rough covering. They can catch on any passing surface. Then, they will be carried offto a new field. Perhaps they will ride off on your clothing. You will never feel their weight. You might be glad to play horse for Mrs. Forget-Me-Not. She will give you much pleasure if you watch her and her sisters during the coming years.
The Spanish Californian children used to call it nievitas. That means "little snow flowers." A field of White Forget-Me-Not does look like a field of snow.
Have you ever seen snow? If you have not, look at the next field of White Forget-Me-Nots and play that they are snow. Though they will look like snow, they will not feel like it and they will not act like it. Snow is cold. Snow melts when the warm sun shines upon it, and soon runs away as water. Then there is no snow.
The White Forget-Me-Nots love the sun. When the warm sun shines upon them, they send out more and more blossoms. Then, there is a whole field of White Forget-Me-Nots and that looks like snow.
The children in the Sierra Nevada Mountains call White Forget-Me-Not "Popcorn." A field of it does look like a field of popcorn!
Children often find very good names of their own for flowers they love. The children who call White Forget-Me-Nots "popcorn" eat the flowers to get the sweet syrup they hold.
Mrs. White Forget-Me-Not makes this sweet stuff to be eaten, but not by children. No indeed. She wants it to be eaten by some creature who can help her make good seeds. She makes a great lot of it in each flower. The wind carries the fragrance of it away from the field. Soon the wind passes a bee and it gets a whiff of this sweetness.
"Buzz-z-zz." She nearly falls on her back, she is so excited. "That is the sweetest air I have met today. I must follow it up to see what it comes from."
She keeps her nose to the wind. Then winging fast and singing fast, she soon reaches the field of White Forget-Me-Nots.
"Buzz-z-z-zz." Her voice sounds happy. "This is just where I want to be."
Down she flies onto a little White Forget-Me-Not. Its feast is soon eaten, and she goes to the next flower. From the stamens, she takes some pollen and fills her pollen bags. Then, winging fast and singing fast, she gets home to her hive.
"Buzz-z-z-zz," she calls to all her fellow bees.
"Come with me! Come with me! The wind led me to a heavenly pasture. We can fill our hive in one sunshine."
"Buzz-z-z-zz! Buzz-z-z-zz," the fellow bees cry. "Lead the way. Lead the way!" Bees always believe what a fellow bee says.
And, winging fast and singing fast, hundreds of bees soon arrive at White Forget-Me-Not field. You'd better not get in their way. They do not wish to hurt you, but their work has to be done while the sun shines.
If you interrupt Mrs. Bee's work, she will buzz "Get out of my way! Get out of my way!" several times in great excitement.
If you do not obey quickly, "BUZZ!" comes sharply, and you are stung. Then you do get out of her way. It is always best to obey Mrs. Bee the first time she speaks.
Mrs. White Forget-Me-Not knows that if her flowers bloom a long time, she will have more chance of visitors. She does not spread her buds out on the stems. Just look at a flower stalk. See how it is curved around inward. Only the outside buds can receive the sunshine. They will bloom first into flowers. It takes sunshine to make a pretty flower just as it takes sunshine to make a pretty child.
When the first flowers have been visited by the insects, then the stem uncoils a little and lets the next buds face the sunshine. Then they bloom into flowers and their honey is eaten. Then the stem uncoils a little more and lets other buds get warmed by the rays of the sun. After a while, the very last bud is blossomed. Then, the stem is a straight line. If your Father has an old watch spring you can play with, put it on the table beside a Forget-Me-Not stalk. Draw them both.
White Forget-Me-Not does not throw aside the calyx with the corolla. She wants it to keep the growing seed-case safe. It is not only the cold or the wet that might harm the baby seeds. Sometimes a caterpillar crawls up a nice little green stem. He eats the seeds if he finds them soft and easy to get. The White Forget-Me-Not has no use for caterpillars. They would never help her. So she makes her stems hairy to give them a rough road to travel. She makes her seeds nut-like. They are not easy on a caterpillar's mouth. Mr. Caterpillar soon lets himself down to the ground and seeks an easier meal.
When Forget-Me-Not's seeds are ripe, they have a rough covering. They can catch on any passing surface. Then, they will be carried offto a new field. Perhaps they will ride off on your clothing. You will never feel their weight. You might be glad to play horse for Mrs. Forget-Me-Not. She will give you much pleasure if you watch her and her sisters during the coming years.
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