White Choral Bells.

Our favourite flowers - sometimes we just love the way they look and sometimes we have a story. This is mine.

We have a 'secret garden' of these Lily of the Valley behind the bushes infront of our home. My grandmother also had a garden of these hiding on the little walk beside her old house, among the moss and old garden stones. It's a little silly, but these flowers seem almost magical to me. The way the tiny, delicate bells sneak up in the hidden corners of gardens, hiding among tall green leaves. They were magical to me as a child, which was probably helped along by a campfire song we used to sing at Brownies...

White choral bells
Upon a slender stalk
Lily of the Valley
Deck my garden walk
Oh, don't you wish
That you could hear them ring
That will happen only when the fairies sing.

The little patch beside my grandmother's home was the perfect location for secret tea parties and pretend play. I wish I had a picture to share, but we seem to have photographs of every nook and cranny of her garden except for my favourite parts - the path beside her home where these flowers grew, the tree stump we'd use as a stage, the big rock in the very back, and the little path through the bushes to get to the pebble driveway. Her entire garden was magical to me back then, but the parts I loved the most are the ones I have only memories of. Sadly, all of her garden was torn out and replaced by a monster home.

It's not surprising that I'd want to keep these flowers close by while they're in season. I'd look more than a little silly crouching behind the front bushes, so a few stalks do me well. Of course I still stop to stare a little each time I pass in and out of my home.