From Rude Rural Rhymes by Bob Adams, New York: The Macmillan Company; 1925; pp. 182-183.
KEEP THE HOME FLOWERS
BLOOMING
The rose has reds, the violet blues
And other flowers have other hues.
When all without is storm and gloom,
I love the brightness of a room
Lit by a red geranium bloom.
Sweet summer comes and brings some phlox
Some Bouncing Betts and hollyhocks.
The rose is red and on its head
Fall gently rain and dew,
No home, though neat, is quite complete
Without a bush or two.
The rose is red, the violet blue
Whenever spring comes back;
He starves his soul who does not have
Some flowers ’round his shack.
The farmer tills on vales and hills
Food crops his father knew,
But let him raise by walks and ways
His mother’s posies too.
We give him praise who spends his days
With Ceres, not with Mammon,
And with her grain from hill and plain
[183]
Puts fat the porker’s ham on;
But let him steal an hour to feel
The love of gentle Flora,
Upon his knees to plant sweet peas
For wife or sister Dora.