What’s in a flower?

Plants. Vegetation. Foliage. Florae. What’s a good story without a background setting containing plant life? Whether it’s a southern belle sashaying through a rose garden, or an F.B.I. agent pursuing a criminal through a field full of thistles, an important foundation of our story can be the vegetation in the scene.

Hydrangea

Many times we fall back on the familiar. You need flowers for the wedding bouquet. Roses. Carnations. Lilies. No, your character is unique, so she needs unusual flowers. Oh my. We’re stuck.

This month we’re providing flowers, flowering vines, parasitic plants, and trees. Pluck the ones you like, leave the rest for other writers. Let me give you an example.

A hydrangea rests in the flower bed near my front door, barely awake from its winter nap. Memories stir as I regard this plant that will one day blossom with bluish-purple foliage. An enormous bush also graced the front flower bed of the dark brick home where my husband’s mother and grandmother lived. They’re no longer with us here on earth, but when I see my hydrangea, I smile. All my senses fill with impressions I have from being with them, in their home, at holidays, and even caretaking. From these impressions—stories, ideas, thoughts, and prompts abound in my imagination. All from my hydrangea bush.

So don’t forget to drop by every Tuesday and Friday for a visit. We’re looking forward to seeing you…

Tuesday’s sentence prompt: The blue hydrangea blossoms stirred as the scrawny juvenile sprinted away from…

This week’s flowers, vines, and parasitic plants reside in the region of the United States known as the southeast.  Trees will be classed differently, this week’s group being conifers. For a visual of each plant, check out wikipedia at http://www.wikipedia.org/

Flowers

Rosebay rhododendron

Hooded blue violet

Yellow trillium

Wild geranium

Bloodroot

Black-eyed Susan

Water lily, cattails

White clover

Queen Anne’s lace

Sunflowers

Sweet William

Rose

Vines & Parasitic Plants

Kudzu

Honeysuckle

Morning glory

Mistletoe

Sweet potato vine

Moonflower

Trumpet vine

Ivy

Passion flowers

Gourds

Conifers

Spanish fir

Lawson cypress

Eastern red cedar

European larch

Ponderosa pine

Sequoia

Swamp cypress