Case of the Too-Perfect Roses

One warm summer day, Asarum was bringing his cousins some sumac to teach them how to make a tangy drink with it. When he arrived at their cottage, he found Dicentra staring forlornly at her rose bushes.

"What's the matter, Dicentra?" he asked her.

"Look at the leaves on this bush!" she replied.

He looked them over and didn't see any flaws. He inspected them closer but still found no cause for alarm. "There's not a blemish on them."

"I know!" she moaned. "Every year for the last 315 years I've always had a little family of leaf cutter bees make a home in one of the stumps around here. They like to use rose leaves for their nesting material. But this year, as you can see, they aren't here."

"But isn't it good that now your rose leaves look so good?"

"Not at all! They don't really hurt the roses, you see, but they do a world of good for the pollination of all the fruits and flowers around here." She looked very glum.

When he showed her the sumac he had brought, she tried to act interested, but Asarum could see that she was truly troubled. He looked around for something to cheer her. There was nothing but some Virginia Creeper running along the ground. He kicked it absent-mindedly. A bee flew out and rushed off with something in its grip. He looked closer. "Dicentra!" he called. "Your bees just wanted a little variety in their diet!"

She came rushing over to see. There, all along the Virginia Creeper vine, certain leaves had been cut away. An energetic bee carved up a nice helping as Dicentra's face filled with joy. "Hooray! I was so worried about the bees, the flowers they pollinate, the food we get from the flowers, and, well, just everything!"

Asarum smiled. "Now can I interest you in some sumac tea?" They headed into the little cottage.