Look What’s Budding

Mystery flower bud

Mystery flower bud. All photos by Bianca March.

Pete Moss walked around his backyard and investigated all the different kinds of budding plants. He snapped pictures of some budding trees, herbs, a fern, and flowers he could name for sure.

He found a one-inch tall peony flower bud. It was purplish-pink.

He found snowdrop flower linear leaves. He did not know which ones would grow to have purple or white flowers. He found irises near the snowdrops. They may grow to be blue, purple, or red. There was a fern bud nearby.

In one garden bed, he found wild garlic leaves, budding scallions, and a budding slender donut peach tree.

He visited the dogwood tree he hugged before. It now had budding white flowers. Behind this tree were budding daffodils in the corner of a bed of a row of Ace of Hearts miniature trees. The dogwood tree had an apricot tree for a neighbor on one side.

Parsley was in a corner where a toad usually visits in the late spring.

In his front yard were budding tulips—their flower color was unknown as of yet. Also, here he had two corners of hyacinths—pink, purple, and white, but their colors were secret at the moment.

There was a mystery flower budding in a planter under his bedroom window. Can you guess what these flowers are? There is a picture above. If he figures it out later, he’ll report back to you. He’ll have to find the same variety at the Home Depot—when they bring the flowers around Mother’s Day, May 8—to know for sure.

There are many more things budding in Pete Moss’s garden, but these are the buds he could name for sure now, so early in the Spring.

The Man in the Moon

It was the evening of Sunday, March 27. Tommy Tomorrow was holding on to the railing of Grandpa Joe’s backyard deck and looking up at the sky.

Grandpa Joe pointed to the waning gibbous moon and asked, “Do you see the man in the moon?”

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Decoding the Solar Eclipse’s Message

Lunar eclipse photo courtesy of carsus/pixabay.com

Lunar eclipse photo courtesy of carsus/pixabay.com

It was Sunday, March 20. Grandpa Joe was sitting in his rocking chair by the lit fireplace. Tommy Tomorrow and his parents were visiting.

Grandpa Joe motioned with his index finger for Tommy to approach him.

Tommy dutifully walked up to Grandpa Joe and sat before his rocking chair.

“So…” Grandpa Joe began. “Did you get your secret message from the eclipse?”

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The Eclipse’s Message

New moon solar eclipse

New moon solar eclipse picture courtesy of Pixabay.com

Grandpa Joe motioned for Tommy Tomorrow to approach him and sit near his rocking chair by the fireplace.

Grandpa Joe had retired a few years ago. He used to run the small grocery store in the country town of Buzzley. Now, in his retirement years, he was finally able to devote his life to his truest passion, Astrology.

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The Smell Mobile

Sandwich Clipart

Sandwich courtesy of ClassroomClipart.com, edited in Photoshop.

Dr. Evol Smell lives in the scary house on Brush Street, the one with the unkept lawn, tattered roof covered in blue tarp, and peppered with dead brown trees, what used to be evergreen trees, around the backyard. He enjoys foiling Amy Lockhart’s and the Elementrees’ plans whenever he can. He especially loves to—as much as he can—keep them from the truth.

One day, he stepped out of his meanie van to put a complaint letter to the newspaper in the mailbox outside his local bank. He left the engine running. When he turned to go back to his van, he saw in all caps on his back window the words “WASH ME!” dry finger-painted through the caked on dirt.

I turn around for a few seconds and this is what happens! he thought. What buffoon could have done this?

The worst part was Murky Waters was in the van the whole time.

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