Lily in Full Bloom Read online

  “Okay, little seeds,” she said. “Grow strong. Grow happy.” Then she drew the bottle even closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. “I believe in you.”

  Lily tipped the bottle and a batch of seeds fell into her palm. She sprinkled them onto the sandy soil. Then she showered them with a generous helping of water.

  Lily was too excited to sit still and wait. She flew this way and that. She paced and waited and wondered and hoped. She was usually very patient. But today she was finding it hard to wait for her little seeds to bloom.

  Lily needed to put her mind on something else. It was still on the early side, but there was a good chance she’d find someone who was awake now. Maybe time would pass more quickly if she could share her excitement.

  She corked the bottle of seeds and slipped it back into her pocket. Then she flew to the Home Tree. She was half hoping to run into Tink. She’d like to tell her about her seeds.

  But when she got to the lobby, it was empty. Lily paused for a minute, thinking of where to go next. Then Lympia zipped past. She was flying toward the laundry room with a pile of tablecloths in her arms.

  “Lympia!” Lily called, hurrying after her. “Listen to this!”

  “Lily! You’re up early,” Lympia said over her shoulder. She weaved into the laundry room, unsteady under the weight of the tablecloths. “Any reason?”

  “Well,” said Lily, “let’s just say I may have an invention as good as your laundry cleaner!” She plunked her bottle of panglory seeds down onto a laundry-sorting table. “These little seeds are going to become some amazing flowers! I’m calling them panglories.”

  “That’s great, Lily!” Lympia said. Her eyes went to a row of sea-glass bottles on a nearby shelf. She picked one up, a sly smile on her face. “But will they work as well as my cleaner?” she teased.

  Lympia uncorked the bottle. She poured a few small, brown pebbles into her hand. They didn’t look like much. But Lily knew these were the miracle cleaner that Lympia had made.

  “We’ve been trying it on everything.” Lympia put the bottle down on the table. She reached for a pile of clean, folded laundry. “Have you ever seen spider lace look whiter?” Lympia asked.

  Lily had to admit the linens looked brand-new. They gleamed in the sunshine that streamed in through the laundry room windows. The piles of clean laundry stacked on the tables all looked like new—maybe better.

  Lympia’s invention may be the best of all, Lily thought. No longer would the fairies have to worry about spilling raspberry juice on tablecloths and dribbling strawberry shortcake down shirtfronts.

  “Okay, okay,” Lily said. “My seeds aren’t as well tested as your laundry cleaner…yet.” She smiled and picked up the bottle from the table. “But if these little things do work…well, hang on to your clothespins!”

  AFTER LILY HAD TALKED to Lympia, she’d run into Silvermist by the courtyard. Then she had grabbed a bite to eat from the kitchen. Almost two hours had passed before she headed for her garden.

  When Lily got there, she could hardly believe her eyes. When she had left the garden early in the morning, her patch of sandy soil had been bare. But now—now a thick blanket of tiny purple, yellow, and pink panglories covered every inch of the patch! Even seeds that had fallen on the bark and the acorns around the spot had sprouted. She’d never imagined that her little seeds would bloom so quickly.

  Lily had done it! She’d created a whole new kind of flower. The seeds had grown almost exactly as she’d expected them to. Except for one detail—the panglories sprouted anywhere and everywhere! In the soil, yes, but on bark and on acorns, too.

  Slowly, another thought came to Lily. She could make all of Pixie Hollow more beautiful with these seeds. She imagined panglories growing on fences, tree trunks…even rocks!

  “Bumble! Bumble!” Lily called out. She spotted her friend buzzing around a honeysuckle flower and waved him over. “Come look!”

  Bumble dove into the panglories. He was very impressed—or maybe he just wanted to grab some nectar from Lily’s newest flowers.

  “My little seeds!” Lily dropped to her knees by the pan-glory patch and gathered the flowers into a hug. “You’re all grown up! You’ve done so well!” She thought she might actually burst with pride. She felt like shouting the news from the top of the Home Tree. She couldn’t wait to tell the other garden fairies!

  Just then, Iris flew past the far end of Lily’s garden. “Lily!” she called out from the other side of the gate.” I just heard! The Lonely Heart flower near the well is about to double-bloom!”

  “Iris!” Lily called back. “I’m so glad you’re here. Come see my pangl—”

  But Iris had already rushed off. Lily couldn’t blame her. The Lonely Heart was one of the rarest flowers in Pixie Hollow. Its single pink and gold flower bloomed for only five days out of the whole year. But every once in a while, a Lonely Heart sprouted two blooms at once! Not many garden fairies had been in Never Land long enough to remember the last time that had happened.

  Lily felt torn. She looked at her panglories. Then she looked where Iris had flown. She didn’t want to miss seeing the Lonely Heart double-bloom. But she wanted to stay with her panglories, too.

  Finally, she shook her wings and flew toward the well. The double-bloom happened so rarely. Besides, the panglories would be waiting for her when she got back to her garden.

  “Bumble!” she called over her shoulder. “Want to come?”

  Lily heard her friend buzzing along behind her to catch up. She checked to make sure her bottle of seeds was still in her pocket. There would be lots of garden fairies at the well. She could tell them all about her invention!

  Lily and Bumble caught up with Iris near the well. Rosetta, Bluebell, Fern, Aster, and several other garden talents were waiting there. They hovered around a tall, green stalk topped with two still-closed blooms. Bumble buzzed ahead, pausing in front of each bloom. Then he came to rest on a daisy next to Lily.

  “Iris! Lily!” Rosetta called. “You haven’t missed anything. But it looks like the blooms will open any moment now.”

  “Well,” Lily began, “I have some news while we wait. Actually, it’s about an invention!”

  She described the seeds she had mixed. She told the other fairies what she had done that morning. Then she pulled the seeds from her pocket. Bumble buzzed cheerfully around the bottle. It was almost as if he was trying to help Lily show the seeds off.

  “They grew on acorns?” Aster cried in disbelief.

  “And bark?” Rosetta said.

  Lily nodded. “I’m hoping they’ll grow on anything! Watch!” She put the bottle down on the edge of the well and uncorked it. “I bet they’ll sprout on the stones of the well.”

  The fairies clustered around Lily to watch. Not wanting to be left out, Bumble squeezed himself between Aster and Bluebell. For a second, his wing got snagged on Aster’s belt. He tugged away, trying to free himself. Then, suddenly, he came loose and rocketed forward. He tumbled in midair and crashed into the sea-glass bottle full of seeds.

  “Look out!” Lily cried. She lunged forward, trying to catch the bottle.

  But the glass slipped through her fingers. A loud splash echoed far below.

  Lily stared into the dark well in disbelief. She could just make out the base of the bottle as it sank into the water.

  Bumble landed on the edge of the well next to Lily. He let out a quiet droning moan.

  “Oh, Bumble, I know you didn’t mean to,” Lily said. She patted her friend on his fuzzy back. “It’s all right. I can make more.”

  But could she? All the seeds she had worked on were inside that bottle. And she hadn’t written down the formula she’d used to make them. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to remember just how she had done it.

  Lily tried to stay cheerful. “I guess my wing-tingling panglory show will have to wait until I can make more seeds,” she said to the others.

  “It’ll be just as good then, Lily,” Rosetta said.
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br />   “Oh, look, look!” Iris suddenly cried. She was pointing at the Lonely Heart. “Something’s happening!”

  Sure enough, both blossoms were slowly opening at the same time. The red petals unfolded first to reveal golden blooms inside. It looked like a fiery sunset inside the flower’s bloom. It was a breathtaking sight. Lily was glad she hadn’t missed it.

  And yet, if she had stayed in her garden, she’d still have her panglory seeds.

  FOR THE THIRD MORNING in a row, Lily skipped breakfast. There was too much to be done in her garden to spend time chatting in the tearoom.

  Lily was mixing another batch of panglories. She’d had no luck with the second and third batches. Something was still missing.

  Her stomach rumbled as the sun hid behind gray clouds. A little rain right about now would save her some trips to the well. Getting enough water for the seeds had meant many flights back and forth.

  Lily’s other plants were also thirsty. Morning glories, poppies, lilies of the valley, violets—even some larkspur and sweet peas. She had hardly given her gaden a thought, so she spent the rest of the morning taking care of it. She hoped a break from the panglories would help her remember what she was missing.

  She weeded and watered. She put up a striped pole for the vining plants to climb onto. She pulled dried leaves off stems and spread plant food all over.

  Bumble followed along behind her, nosing his head into the blooms.

  Lily was cheering on her sweet peas when Rosetta landed at her side. In one hand she held a little package wrapped in leaf paper. Her other hand rested on her hip.

  “Lily! You’ve got to eat!” Rosetta scolded. “I know you’ve been working hard, but this is silly! I haven’t seen you at breakfast for days!”

  “I know, Rosetta,” Lily replied. “It’s just—”

  “Yes, yes,” Rosetta said knowingly. “With those new seeds of yours, you’re running yourself ragged.” She opened the leaf-paper package. Inside were two thick slices of red currant bread. She handed them to Lily. “I thought you might want these.”

  Lily took the bread eagerly. “It’s ’ood, ’osetta,” she mumbled, her mouth full. She gobbled both slices and washed them down with a ladleful of fresh water. “Much better,” she said with a sigh.

  “I’m glad,” Rosetta said. She threw an arm around her friend. “I’m almost afraid to ask. But…how is it going?”

  Lily’s shoulders slumped. “It hasn’t been easy,” she said. “Well, maybe I should just show you.”

  Lily flew over to a mossy area under a maple tree. A bunch of seeds sat on the moss. “My second batch never took root,” she explained.

  Farther ahead, Lily pointed out a patch of scraggly, overgrown flowers. “The third batch is a little too eager. “They didn’t stop growing. I might have gone a little heavy on the pepper with that batch,” she said.

  “As for the fourth batch…” Lily flew around to the side of her garden shed. Rosetta followed—and stopped in midair. Her mouth hung open. Lily hid a giggle behind her hand.

  The side of the shed was covered in small, colorful panglories—from corner to corner and top to bottom. It was as if someone had draped the shed with a floral blanket. Tall trees shaded the shed. It was one of the darkest spots in Lily’s garden. Even so, the bright purple, yellow, and pink flowers bloomed cheerfully. They seemed perfectly happy with their quiet, shady little corner.

  Rosetta studied the way the flowers had rooted themselves right into the wooden shingles. Then she swung toward Lily, amazed. “This batch—”

  “—turned out just right,” Lily finished for her. She was wearing a huge grin. “And this time, I wrote down exactly how I made them!”

  “Lily!” Rosetta exclaimed at last. “This is incredible! Can you imagine what we can do with seeds like this?”

  Lily nodded excitedly.

  “How did you…? I mean, what can they…?” Rosetta stopped herself. She took a deep breath before going on. “I have a million questions. But the first thing I want to know is…”

  “Yes?” Lily asked.

  Rosetta flew to Lily’s side. She clasped her hands and smiled her sweetest smile. She batted her eyelashes. Finally, she asked, “When can I get some of these seeds?”

  LILY TRIED TO TELL ROSETTA that the seeds weren’t ready to be passed around. Of course she wanted to see them put to good use. But for now, she didn’t feel comfortable letting them go.

  Rosetta, however, was very convincing. In the end, Lily agreed that Rosetta could hand out some of the seeds, but only to other garden talents. They could test them in their gardens. If there were any problems, they could tell Lily before she gave the seeds to the other talents. Lily didn’t want all the fairies to get excited and then find out the seeds didn’t work as she’d said they would.

  But by the end of the afternoon, there didn’t seem to be much chance of that happening.

  Lily herself had spent the day trying the seeds all over her garden. She threw a handful on a hollow log. She sprinkled some on two lanterns that were hanging near the front gate. She tossed seeds on a wicker garden basket, on a plant label, and even on the backs of her gardening gloves. Wherever she tried the panglory seeds, they sprouted—and quickly!

  Lily was eager to find out if any of the other garden talents had tried the seeds. She flew off to see the results.

  “Lily!” Aster cried. She stood up from her gardening when she saw Lily. “These seeds of yours are amazing!”

  Lily glanced around Aster’s garden. She spotted the panglories. Then she realized they were covering the metal garden tools Aster was working with!

  “Can I get some more?” Aster asked hopefully.

  Bluebell’s garden was full of the little flowers, too. All her stepping stones were covered in colorful panglories. “They’re almost too pretty to step on now, aren’t they?” Bluebell said to Lily.

  On her way to Rosetta’s garden, Lily found Iris watering the thick roots of the Home Tree. It was a chore the garden fairies took turns doing. Lily hadn’t seen Iris do it for ages.

  “You know I don’t do much gardening anymore,” Iris said. She had once told Lily that growing things just didn’t come naturally to her, even though she still loved plants and flowers. “But these flowers, Lily…” Iris pulled her plant book from her bag. It was covered in cheerful blooms. Iris smiled proudly. “Even I can grow these!” she exclaimed.

  Lily beamed. It was great that the seeds worked so well. But it was even better that Iris was excited about gardening again.

  At last, Lily reached Rosetta’s garden. Rosetta flew to meet her at the front gate. She grabbed Lily’s hand and pulled her in.

  “You’ve got to see this!” Rosetta told her. She led Lily to an out-of-the-way corner of her garden. Rosetta pulled back a curtain of climbing roses. Behind it was a small pond—a favorite quiet spot of Rosetta’s.

  Lily gasped. All over the surface were flowering panglories!

  “They really do grow anywhere!” Rosetta cried.

  Lily sighed with happiness. Her invention was a success! She finally felt ready to share her panglories with all of Pixie Hollow.

  That evening at dinner, each table had a special floral decoration in the center.

  The garden fairies got to the tearoom early. They sat at their table, trying to stay calm. But they were giggling with anticipation. They couldn’t wait to see everyone’s reaction!

  Slowly, the tearoom filled up with hungry fairies and sparrow men.

  “What in Never Land is it?” Lily heard Fira say at the light-talent table.

  “How does it work?” Silvermist asked at the water-talent table. “Are those flowers really—”

  “—growing out of that rock?” Rani finished for her.

  At the animal-talent table, Fawn was holding up the decoration. She studied the bottom. She looked very confused.

  Tink was the first one to come over to the garden fairies. She was carrying the centerpiece from the pots-and-pans tal
ents’ table. It was a stone about the size of a fairy’s hand, with purple, yellow, and pink panglories growing on the top.

  “I don’t suppose,” Tink began, “any of you know anything about these?”

  Aster covered up a giggle. Bluebell tried not to smile. Lily looked at Rosetta, who was biting her lip to keep from laughing. They couldn’t hold it in any longer. Everyone at the table burst into laughter.

  Finally, Lily recovered enough to answer. “Yes,” she said. “We made them!” She felt proud from her wingtips to her toes.

  “They’re Lily’s amazing new invention!” Rosetta added.

  “They’re called panglories,” Aster put in. “And they’ll grow anywhere!”

  Tink looked skeptical. “Really?” she asked. “Anywhere?”

  Lily opened her mouth to reply. But Fern beat her to it. “Uh-huh,” Fern said. “They grew on my wheelbarrow.”

  “And my gardening book!” said Iris.

  “And my pond!” cried Rosetta.

  The garden fairies went on and on. Meanwhile, something on Tink’s bunch of flowers caught Lily’s eye. She leaned in for a closer look.

  Huh, that’s funny, Lily thought. Two or three of the flowers had faded leaves on their stems. So far, all the panglories from the fourth batch of seeds had been perfect in every way. Their color was perfect. Their shape was perfect. They were perfectly healthy.

  She shrugged it off. Maybe these just need a bit more water, she decided. Then she turned her attention back to Tink and the garden fairies.

  “You know, Tink,” Rosetta teased, “I think the garden-talent fairies have something special here. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!” She knew Tink hadn’t meant to extend the challenge the way she had—putting down the other talents’ important jobs. But if any fairy could put a challenge to good use, Tinker Bell was the one to do it.