Reader’s Corner: Share some Flower Fairies

Not long after we moved to our current home, I planted two boxwood shrubs by our back deck. Confession: I do not care for tightly formatted, neatly trimmed shrubs; I like to let them do their own thing, and the birds seem to like them that way, too. This has led to a “mixed marriage” of sorts; my husband grew up around neatly manicured lawns and shrubs, whereas I prefer what he calls weeds, that encourage pollinators; we manage to compromise, but I won on the boxwoods. One neighbor politely asked if I needed help trimming them, to which I politely replied, “No.” 

Visiting my son’s home early last spring, I discovered that my daughter-in-law and granddaughter had checked out the book “Flower Fairies of the Winter.” British author/illustrator Cicely Mary Barker did similar books for the other seasons, each featuring signature whimsical children with butterfly wings, enjoying flowers and trees of the seasons, with appropriate accompanying poems. The “Winter” volume was completed after her death, incorporating ideas from her notes and some of her earlier content. I enjoyed some of Barker’s books in my own younger years and with my kids, but had not read the entire Winter volume, so it was fun to read it with my granddaughter—and imagine my delight when I discovered one of the illustrations for Winter is an evergreen, beautifully-untrimmed boxwood, being visited by the Fairies! 

The volumes, with others in Barker’s “Fairies” series, are in the children’s section of many libraries; and they have been around long enough to show up in used book shops, as well as other brick-and-mortar bookstores and major online retailers. Pages of great reviews are full of comments like “Wonderful little paintings . . . They stand up to the test of time!” and “Intrinsic innocent charm, drawn from the wayside flora of England.”  

My personal yard preferences aside, if it’s been a few years since you looked through the delightful illustrations and calming, yet inspirational poetry of the Flower Fairies books, take some time to enjoy them, maybe starting with summer for the current season! If you have children or grandchildren, introduce them!