Botanical Garden: The path to a blooming future

Part 1:

He pulled on his gloves and readjusted his hat. Here we go. Shelbert had never gardened before, but he was determined to try. When he stepped outside, his poorly groomed yard greeted him. Inside, he felt uneasy about the task at hand. I read all the books and I did all the research, he told himself as he made his way to his empty makeshift garden bed.

There were a few pieces of trash still stuck within the dirt, clearly blown in from the street. He sighed and started to clean it up. It took about ten minutes to clear up the garden, then another thirty minutes for him to replace the old soil with fresh soil. When he sat up, his face and gloves were covered in dirt; Shelbert looked like he had army-crawled through mud instead of gardening.

“Okay, what is next…,” he pondered in his spot, the plants of course. He stood up, brushed his pants off and turned to head back inside to grab his little sprouts, but the wind picked up and his hat was nearly blown off! Shelbert quickly grabbed the hat and pressed it against his head. Oh no, looks like it might rain. At first, that seemed like a bad thing, but it was actually a good thing, once he was done planting, his sprouts would need water. What better way to get water than from the natural sources, clouds above!

Quickly, he grabbed his two potted sprouts and rushed back over to his garden. He started to rehash the plan, or what he read online, Shelbert needed to dig up some holes for each plant, make sure any rocks and sticks were removed then plant them. He did just that and was about to depot the plants when the wind blew again. Rotten luck! He grabbed his hat tightly and braced against the wind. When he returned his gaze to his plot, the soil had been disturbed and he had to re-dig the holes.

Another fifteen minutes passed and finally Shelbert had his lovely plants in place. Fertilizer time. He grabbed the fresh container of fertilizer and popped it open, before distributing it, he took a whiff and winced. Oops, I guess it’s not meant for me. He started to generously top the plants off with fertilizer, then he capped it back. That should do it! The purple baobear rushed back inside just in time for the rain to start.

A week later, Shelbert went to visit his beloved new plants, expecting to see some new shoots. Unfortunately, when he checked up on them, the baby sprouts were all shriveled up! Shelbert groaned in disappointment. I guess I need to do some more research…

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Part 2:

Shelbert pulled up his overalls, getting ready to check out the new sprouts at the Botanical Garden. Once he had all the tools he needed, he headed inside. The doors creaked as he walked in, the smell of various flowers hit him right away. 

“Goooood morning!” He called out to no one in particular. Shelbert smiled at his little plants, they were growing steadily. No flowers yet but they were bound to come in the next week, or so he hoped. As he got up close to each plot, he examined the plants for any mold or diseases. Everything looked to be in order.

Just then, one particular plot caught his eyes, and when he walked up to it, he noticed that the plant had shriveled up. A flashback to his first time gardening ever played in his mind. Back then, Shelbert would have surely panicked and felt down about it, but he had been gardening for some time now that he would even call himself a novice. You can’t win them all, he thought, smiling sadly at the wilted plant.

Grabbing his trowel, he got to work. First by removing the withered plant, then shifting the soil for some of the other plants. Afterwards he grabbed his watering can. Empty. He walked over to the water faucet and opened it, fresh water poured into his watering can; as it was filling, Shelbert whistled a little tune. He hoped his flowers enjoyed the little tune.

The watering took a while, and when it was completed, he wiped his forehead with the back of his glove, smudging dirty over it at the same time. Whew! Gardening is tiring. Shelbert checked the time, it was time for lunch. 

He put down the watering can and walked over to the faucet to clean himself up while daydreaming of what to eat. Was he feeling for some ramen? Maybe a club sandwich? Or maybe he will have breakfast for lunch? The possibilities were endless. He got a bit too distracted that he lost track of time. By the time he came to, he realized he had to rush. There was no time for sit-down dining, he would have to take it to-go.

As he rushed out, he accidentally tripped over the watering can. Shelbert sighed and slapped his paw on his face. Oh no… He groaned as he picked up the can. Now water is everywhere. He will have to clean that up first so there would be no accidents in the gardens, Shelbert can’t leave it this way. Lunch will have to wait.

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Part 3:

It had only been a week later, but the place was filled with an array of colours.He breathed in the air and grinned. What a beautiful sight! He skipped over to his plot, browsing all the other baobears’ plots on the way. When he arrived at his, he noticed the beautiful flowers clustered together, making a wonderful bouquet.Immediately feeling inspired, Sherbet picked up his shears and gathered a number of the flowers that he will use, then he started to prune the plot, cleaning it up, adding fertilizer and watering it.That should do it. He nodded to himself, gave the plot one last look over and picked up his collection.

A small work table has been stationed to one side of the Botanical Garden, where baobears can do their work on the spot. He placed his freshly cut flowers down and walked back outside to grab his vase, it was his favourite vase, he used it to display the very first blooms of the season. Placing the ornate pot down, he started to work on the length of each stem, height of each flower will give the entire vase a more voluminous and decorated look as opposed to sticking it all in at the same height. While he cut, he would compare the size to the other stems and make sure that he was not cutting too much or too little.

In his mind, he had a vision. He was going to place the two lilies in the back, then the white and red roses in front, some chrysanthemum and baby’s breaths to fill in the space. Lastly, he will add in some lavender to one side giving it a variety of texture and smell. Shelbert loved lavenders, not only did it smell wonderful, but it was purple like him!

Once he completed his work, he leaned back and smiled at the pot. It was magnificent. As he looked at the time, he noticed that an hour and a half had already flown by. Flower arrangement always gave him a sense of peace and Shelbert thoroughly enjoyed it, time always flew by quickly. He started to clean up the work station. Then he walked back to his plot and gave it one more look over, though he already took some flowers, there were still a lot of new buds and he is sure that when he comes back next week, there will be more blooms. This made him giddy. I will need more vases! He told himself before picking up his arrangement and exiting the building.

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