A Small, Sad, Neglected-Looking Pink or Peony

If you are picking a bunch of mixed flowers,
and if you happen to see,
over in a corner,
a small,
sad,
neglected-looking pink or peony that
is all by itself
and has obviously never had a chance in life,
you have not
the heart to pass it by,
to leave it to mourn alone,
while the night comes on.
You have to go back and pick it,
very carefully,
and put it in the center of the bunch among its fair companions,
in the place of honor.

Note: All week long, The Daily Gardener is sharing quotes from the author Beverley Nichols.
Today I'm sharing some excerpts from his fabulous book Merry Hall. Merry Hall was part of Nichol's later trilogy written between 1951 and 1956. It shares Nichols's highs and lows of renovating Merry Hall, a Georgian manor house in Surrey. Nichols lived here for ten years from 1946 to 1956.
Today's excerpt is from Merry Hall.