They are weak and desperate, and they are gamblers, hoping their luck holds and a good strong friend can be found close by to give them everything they lack. They are not lone, rising, random gifts, like treasure. But since finding out that they are essentially reliant on fungi, I have a new perspective. Orchids seem to have that effect on people. It relies utterly on its underground friends: the unseen, unsung fungi. “This particular orchid gets all its energy from fungi, sometimes from different kinds of fungi simultaneously. Lady Anna was clearly a creative spirit, and maybe that played out in her gardens and the names she gave to her flowers and trees.” She must have given them her own names.' Perhaps there hadn't been anything sinister going on in the orchard, after all. I smiled when I picked up a tag from one of the pots. Only their brown, shriveled stems remained, but I could imagine how they'd looked in their prime. I walked along the leaf-strewn pathway to a table that had clearly once showcased dozens of orchids.
I could smell citrus warming in the sunlight, and I immediately noticed the source: an old potted lemon tree in the far corner. Most of it had died off, but a single healthy vine remained, and it burst with magenta blossoms. In awe, my heart beating wildly, I lingered in an arbor covered with bright pink bougainvillea, with a trunk so thick, it was larger than my waist. I realized that its position at the center of the house precluded its visibility from below. Sunlight beamed through the enormous glass roof. A vast conservatory awaited, or what 'once' was a conservatory. “I took a cautious step inside, marveling at the sight before me. To serpent's venom, has borne to the light There creep sideways from the copper vase,ĭevil's blossoms which the ancient earth, Like a children's rhyme her curses chimed,Īdorns her pale features before the mirror
0 kommentar(er)
