## 29 Tale of a flower

My friend the spider has talked about that blog. I'm a flower on the balcony of the guy there. You can guess that I didn't write it myself, but the spider did. That's my story, the story of the red flower on the balcony.

I'm a geranium, a very ancient flower. We were cultivated by the ancient Greeks, but you can easily guess that I didn't learn any history from my parents. I was only a seed when I saw them for the last time. I say them because we are male and female on the same time and we need insects to be created. That's complicated for you to understand. I don't understand myself the way you have babies and even with the spider, it's complicated. She's always weaving a web between my stems...She always wants to kill the bees and flies that come on my blossoms. There are so many insects that come to gather my pollen. It's my neighbor now and we are happy like that. I keep the bees alive because they are doing good things for flowers like us. And I know that humans are often afraid of them. They are so kind to me.

I'm not in the garden but on the balcony and it makes many differences. I'm not in a real pot but in a big planter. I have a good soil to grow, rain and water, sun. I'm not often in the cold wind but I'm not like those «insiders», the flowers made to live inside a house, in a pot. I could be in the garden like many flower friends but it's not easy with cats, birds and.. humans who forget us when they pass the lawn mower. I hate that thing ! It's so noisy and frightening. I hear the one from the neighbor with a gasoline engine. The human in the house has only an electric one but most of the time, he uses a manual one. It's frightening too with all the blades turning to cut the grass. But he keep many flowers alive in the garden, even on the grass. It's kind for insects and bees. I'm still trying to have children in the garden but it's not easy to send a seed and then have it planted and germinate. It's a question of wind, temperature, sun, water. With those big trees around, there are not much good places f
or us. 

```

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```

We, the geraniums, are made for balconies and gardens. But you, humans, are you really looking at us. We're just a splash of color to brighten up your life a bit? I'm not like a Rose or other plants that produce captivating fragrances. I have the chance to make big blossoms with many different colors that you are proud to show. I can fall back into bunches, have blossoms during a long time but I don't not always die at the end of the year. With global warming, the winters are not so cold anymore and it's more easy to see us the next year. Many of you are changing each year, transplant us every year with younger flowers. It's like men with women, you always want a younger women but you're getting older. I'm the child of an ancient geranium in a different house. It's been several years that I'm in the same place and I have seen other flowers that were not so lucky. Not for this place, too much rain, too little water, it depends...They died. 

We are not always dying like you, humans. With our seeds, we are always somewhere and we communicate with each others and with trees. But it's not a communication like yours, it's not on the same rhythm, on the same frequencies, with vibrations but also some secret weapons that you can't imagine. For you, the power of flowers is just for your girl/boy friends, or when you can offer a pot with flowers to someone. Did you forget that we were there when you were not even what you call a beast now. We keep all the memory of the earth time somewhere inside us. Our ancestors saw your wars and adventures. We have traveled. Some of us are coming from the deepest forests or the opposite side of this planet. You even made experiences in the space with our seeds. I saw a famous picture of a woman offering a flower to a policeman or a soldier. We always went there by your side but you didn't care.

Now, these are difficult times. There are fewer insects to keep us alive. You have killed them with your chemical products....to keep your food safe. And you could have no food anymore if you have no insects and no flowers. You are sometimes looking at us for your weddings and funerals, the important moments of your life. But always cutting us from earth, killing us, as a symbol of what you are. If there are some carnivorous plants, we are always peaceful with earthlings. We change with seasons : sleeping during the winter, when my old friend the winter jasmine blooms when the cold freezes me. Trees are letting their flowers in the wind with scrolls of petals but you're just clearing the way to your gleaming metal machine. You will only cry for us when your world will be like your future, dark and grey.

2Dɛ

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