W. E. P - Write Edit Publish

From Yolanda Renee and Denise Covey we have this lovely challenge.

The Gardens prompt is all about creativity. What picture comes to mind when you hear the word 'garden' - the spectacular beauty of carefully landscaped tiers – the fresh delights of a new snowfall on frozen branches – or the haunting beauty of shadows and wilted plants at dusk on a fall night. 

Please share your poetry, photography, artistry, or writing skills in a flash fiction piece inspired by a garden!

Your choice of medium, genre, word count (1000 maximum) and how the prompt inspires you!

When I saw this challenge I immediately thought of Robert Louis Stevenson's lovely book, 

A Child's Garden of Verses and the poem, The Flowers.

All the names I know from nurse:

Gardener's garters, Shepherd's purse,

Bachelor's buttons, Lady's smock,

And the Lady Hollyhock.

Fairy places, fairy things,

Fairy woods where the wild bee wings,

Tiny trees for tiny dames --

These must all be fairy names!

Tiny woods below whose boughs

Shady fairies weave a house;

Tiny tree-tops, rose or thyme,

Where the braver fairies climb!

Fair are grown-up people's trees,

But the fairest woods are these;

Where, if I were not so tall,

I should live for good and all.

When I recovered my exceptionally worn out book, I drew this for the front cover, copying it from the above illustration.

Here are some photos which I hope will delight and please the eye.

Butterfly on Esperanza. 

 Bee on Bluebonnet

Fields of Gold

Gladiola

Yellow Iris

Blue Iris

Along with A Child's Garden of Verses, The Secret Garden holds a special place in my heart.

Go HERE to see how others have been inspired by this garden prompt.

Do you have a favorite book, poem, picture or painting about gardens? Have you ever been to a formal or famous botanical garden? 

A Garden Moment

For the first time in several years we have garden. Granted, it’s small, but still, it’s a garden. We have harvested two batches of spinach and the snow peas are starting to really show up. The broccolis have heads and the tomatoes are starting to form tiny green fruit. The bush beans have a way to go yet, but no doubt they too will have their day.

Here I am in the garden with Ursa, picking snow peas. It's a wonderful thing. Ursa concurs. I caught her pulling a snow pea off the vine and eating it. I’m sure she has done this on more than one occasion!

We've had bumper crop of yellow irises this year. They came from California, brought to us by my mother. Over the years the original clump has been divided and divided again until now we have them all over the yard. Behind them is another row of snow peas.

This is a Columbine with a happy bee gathering pollen and nectar. I had to wait for her to appear as she completely disappeared into the flower.

And here are Rose Campions. In the back is another clump of yellow irises.

The Flowers

by Rober Louis Stevenson

All the names I know from nurse:

Gardener's garters, Shepherd's purse,

Bachelor's buttons, Lady's smock,

And the Lady Hollyhock.

Fairy place, fairy things,

Fairy woods where the wild bee wings,

Tiny trees for tiny dames --

These must all be fairy names!

Tiny woods below whose boughs

Shady fairies weave a house;

Tiny tree-tops, rose and thyme,

Where the braver fairies climb!

Fair are grown-up people's trees,

But the fairest woods are these;

Where, if I were not so tall,

I should live for good and all.