Mother Bunny and her flowers

When the Tulips had finished blooming for one season, the little Elves who had rocked to and fro in them liked Mother Bun’s garden so well that they found other flowers in which to hide.

He settled in a bright, red nasturtium for a nap.

Next day he was here, and there, and everywhere.

When Healthy Bunny and Pretty Bunny were a little cross at breakfast, he climbed a morning glory vine and peeped in the window, and screwed up his face into a thousand wrinkles.

He looked so sorrowful that the Bunnies laughed in spite of themselves.

Later, when Old Father Bun looked quite fierce because he could not find his pipe, little Elf Laughter sang,

When Old Mother Bun was fretting about the house cleaning, the Little Elf called,

When they were all merrily working in the garden and a sudden shower came up, he would sing,

“The pot of gold?” said Old Father Bun.

“The pot of gold?” inquired Old Mother Bun.

“Where is the pot of gold?” asked Pretty Bun.

Then, with a merry laugh, Little Elf Laughter told the story of the pot of gold at the rainbow end.

The Nasturtium bed was full of bloom; the pretty flowers nodded to and fro.

Sure enough, the Nasturtium bed needed little attention after the seeds were once planted, and the Humming Bird came saying,

The Geraniums fairly shouted,

Little Elf Laughter said, “The seed pod on this flower does look somewhat like a stork’s bill, I think.”

Healthy Bunny said, “Are all kinds of Geraniums the same?”

Pretty Bunny said, “They have different colors. I know that much.”

Little Elf Laughter ran to one Geranium and pressed the leaf between his tiny fingers. It smelled a little of peppermint. He said, “This is the Peppermint Geranium.”

The flowers were white on this plant, and the leaves were very velvety.

The Rose Geranium sang,

Little Elf Laughter pressed another Geranium leaf tightly and sang, “The leaves on this plant smell of penny-royal.”

The Ivy-Leaved Geranium did not want to remain unnoticed, so it called,

Little Elf Laughter knew the garden and all the flowers in it well. He pointed out the horse shoe marks on the leaves of some of the Geraniums and said,

Next, they saw some showy flowers and Little Elf Laughter said,

Just then, a voice called,

There was a great stir in the Poppy Bed and the Marigolds looked very splendid beside a tiny white flower called Love-In-The-Mist.

All the Bunnies loved the Pansies for the brave little fellows sprang up early, and bloomed late, and were not afraid of frost or cold.

While the other Bunnies picked flowers, Old Father Bun ran to and fro and finally said,

He was planning to measure time by a sun-dial. He had a metal plate and dial plane which was marked off to show directions of shadows at different hours.

The first sun-dial known was spoken of in one of the books of the Bible, Isaiah, and the sun-dial is older than any clock or watch.

He said a moon-dial was made to measure night hours by showing the shadow of the moon or stars.

Patter, patter, patter, fell the drops of rain.

Old Mother Bun said,

Into the house they went, and Old Father Bun said,

Old Mother Bun said,

The Bunnies knew many climbing stems and shouted, “Grape-Vine, Ivy, Trumpet-creeper, Pea, Gourd.” They also talked about round and square stems.

Old Mother Bun said, “What Flower Legend shall I tell to-day?” She went on in verse,

The Bunnies thought for some time, but it was Little Elf Laughter who suggested,

Old Mother Bun said, “In far-away Japan, a stream runs down a hill where motherwort grows, and the story goes that people who drink water from that stream are always young. The Japanese hold a festival called ‘The Motherwort Festival,’ and they have a drink made from this plant.”

By and by the rain was over and the Bunnies went off to look for the rainbow end, for they wanted to find the pot of gold.

Old Father Bun sat comfortably in his arm-chair and his head went nid-nid nodding as he said over and over,

Old Mother Bun went out into her garden.

All the flowers were happy because of the shower.

Suddenly she heard Little Elf Laughter singing,

Old Mother Bun looked down at the end of the garden, and there, sure enough, she thought she saw the rainbow end. She began to dig and dig, and she did strike something bright and shining. She found a wee pot of gold, and whether it belonged to the rainbow end, or the Elves, she did not stop to ask.

She peeped inside and said, “I will tell no one yet what I have found; I will tell no one yet what is inside.”

Healthy Bunny and Pretty Bunny came home tired.

Old Father Bun said,

Old Mother Bun said,

The Bunnies begged Old Mother Bun to tell her secret.