Word: floriferous

 

floriferous

[flaw-rif-er-uhs, floh-] / flɔˈrɪf ər əs, floʊ- /

adjective

1. producing blossoms; flower-bearing. 

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                   Grandma sighed as she looked at the bushes. Toby knew that sigh. It was the one Grandma used when she was sad but didn’t want to show it.

                   “Grandma? What’s wrong?” He asked.

                   “Hm? Oh, nothing, nothing. I was just thinking.”

                   “About what?”

                   Grandma slowly bent her knees, crouching by the bush. She touched the slender branches. Toby thought she was checking the plant for something.

                   “A few years ago, this bush and all the others like it were so green. They had little white flowers that bloomed all over them. But I don’t think they’re going to bloom this year.”

                   “Why not?”

                   “A few reasons. You probably don’t know about this, but the weather’s been changing.”

                   “I know that.” Toby said with a big smile. “The weather changes every day.”

                   “Yes, it does. But I don’t mean like that. What I’m talking about is how the weather is so different than it used to be. This time a few years ago, and the weather was perfect. A little chilly, but you only needed a small jacket. And it was mostly consistent. There were cold days and hot days, sure. But not like now. Now, it could be like winter one day and summer the next.”

                   “Really?”

                   To Toby, the weather had always been like this. He could not understand the idea of weather that did not change wildly from day to day. That was just how the world worked.

                   “Yes, really. Now, the thing is that the weather changing so fast might be fine for us. We have clothes and homes and all kinds of fancy things to deal with the changes. But the plants and animals don’t have that. They can’t keep up with the changes. Take this bush. It doesn’t know if it wants to act like its spring, winter or fall. It’ll start making leaves, only for them to freeze off in the night. That’s not how things are supposed to be.”

                   That sounded bad. He thought about if there was a way to help the bush make leaves and flowers again, but he did not know enough to come up with anything.

                   “Can we help it?” He asked.

                   “Hm?”

                   “Can we help it make leaves and flowers and stuff?”

                   Grandma gave a gentle chuckle. “No, dear, I don’t think we can. All we can do is treat the plant as well as we can. Give it food and water whenever it needs some. Then we just have to hope the weather gets better.”

                   “Do we need to do that now?”

                   “No. If we put water on it now, it’ll just freeze. And that’ll hurt the bush too much right now, when it wants to act like it’s getting warmer out.”

                   “Oh. But when it really does start getting warmer?”

                   “That’s right. Maybe in a few weeks it’ll be better and all the plants will be able to wake up. I think it might be too late for this one, but I’m sure we’ll see at least a few flowers again. If the weather ever really gets better.”