#pervinca

1. Peregrine Thistle

Peregrin "Pippin" Took is one of the main four hobbits in The Fellowship alongside Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, and Meriadoc Brandybuck in The Lord of the Rings. Peregrin is a more "masculine" version of Peregrine. Peregrin Took is the son of Eglantine Took and Thane Paladin Took II of The Shire. He has three older sisters named Pearl, Pimpernel, and Pervinca. He is first cousins with Meriadoc Brandybuck, second cousins with Frodo Baggins, and first cousins twice removed/second cousins once removed with Bilbo Baggins depending on the side of the family. Peregrin joins the journey at just 28 years old, the equivalent of 15 in hobbit years, and is the youngest of The Fellowship. He is best friends with Meriadoc Brandybuck and later befriends the ent Treebeard and the men Boromir and Faramir. In the books, he marries Diamond of Long Cleeve and has a son named Faramir Took.

Peregrine Thistle, aka Cirsium Cymosum, is a type of thistle commonly found in western North America. They have spikey spines and a cobweb-like texture. They are a relative of daisies and prefer direct and full sun for at least 6-8 hours a day. They can grow up to 3 feet (91.44 cm) tall and come in white, purple, and pink. They represent aggressiveness, pain, protection, and pride.

2. Eglantine

Eglantine Took, born Eglantine Banks, is the wife of Paladin Took II and the mother of Pearl, Pimpernel, Pervinca, and Peregrin Took. She does not make a movie appearance.

Eglantines are wild roses. They are large, light pink, and grow on thorny canes. Their petals are shaped like hearts. They tend to grow in Europe and Eastern Asia. They smell very strongly of apples and are often used for tea. They grow up to 15 inches (38.1 cm) tall. They represent pleasure and pain.

3. Scarlet Pimpernel

Pimpernel Took is the older sister of Pervinca and Peregrin Took and the younger sister to Pearl Took. She attends Bilbo's birthday party.

Scarlet Pimpernel, also known as red chickweed, shepherd's clock, and poor man's barometer; is a small red or orange flower with purple centers. Rarely, they also come in blue and pink. They have five petals and are considered weeds. Pimpernels that grow in the summer spread by creeping across the ground, and ones that grow in the winter have upright stems. They are very poisonous to humans, dogs, and horses. They represent humbleness, modesty, mystery, and evasiveness.

4. Pervinca or Myrtle

Pervinca Took is the older sister of Peregrin Took and the younger sister of Pearl and Pimpernel Took. She makes an appearance at Bilbo's birthday party and is in The Lord of the Rings Online video game.

Myrtle Burrows is a distant relative to Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. She attended Bilbo's birthday party at age 8 and is the great-great-great granddaughter of Balbo Baggins. She does not make a movie appearance.

Myrtle is the name of Bilbo's pony in The Hobbit.

Pervinca flowers, aka myrtle, vinca, and periwinkle, are soft five-petaled flowers that grow as bushes. They come in light pink, dark pink, blue, white, and wine purple. They prefer partial shade. They are a garden favorite. They are invasive flowers that spread with exploding seed pods. They are used to create vincristine which is used in chemotherapy. However, raw flowers are poisonous. They represent nostalgia, sadness, and purity. (I have some dark pink ones! They easily fit on a windowsill though they are a bit tall. The flowers sprout and fully bloom in one to two days and fall off and regrow just as quickly. They only need watering once every one to two weeks and have a very faint scent).

5. Belladonna

Belladonna Baggins, born Belladonna Took, was the wife of Bungo Baggins and the mother of Bilbo Baggins. She was the ninth of twelve children to Thane Gerontius "The Old" Took of The Shire. She was an adventurous soul who was friends with Gandalf before she and Bungo died during Fell Winter. She makes an appearance in The Hobbit Extended Version.

Belladonna, aka Deadly Nightshade, is a very incredibly poisonous flowering herb. It has bell-shaped purple flowers and black berries. It can grow to be 4-5 feet tall (1.5 meters). Its dried leaves and roots are used to create sedatives with occasional side effects. Eating only 2 of the berries can kill a child and 10-20 berries can kill an adult. They can cause heart attacks, skin irritation, blurry vision, fever, inability to urinate or sweat, hallucinations, spasms, and coma. Belladonna flowers represent silence, falsehood, and death.

6. Lobelia

Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, born Lobelia Bracegirdle, is the resented family member of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. She is the wife of Otho Sackville-Baggins and the mother of Lotho Sackville-Baggins. Lobelia is known for wanting to steal Bag End and has successfully stolen Bilbo's silverware and was so rude to Samwise Gamgee in the books that Frodo Baggins refused to offer her tea.

Lobelias are an annual herb with many varieties. They tend to be red, pink, white, and commonly blue. Lobelias are also known as pukeweed because doctors used to use them to induce vomiting. Their young buds can be cooked and eaten but is ill-advised. Lobelias are easy-to-grow carefree plants that enjoy cool weather and need frequent watering in warmer weather. They are popularly used in hanging baskets. They represent love, prosperity, and good luck.

7. Rose

Rose "Rosie" Gamgee, born Rose Cotton, is a hobbit lass in The Lord of the Rings. She works as a barmaid at The Green Dragon. Samwise Gamgee fancies her, and Frodo Baggins encourages it. She attends Bilbo's birthday party where Frodo insists Sam needs to ask her for a dance. She later marries Samwise and has 13 children named Elanor the Fair, Frodo, Rose, Merry, Pippin, Goldilocks, Hamfast, Daisy, Primrose, Bilbo, Ruby, Robin, and Tolman.

Rose Gamgee is the daughter of Rose and Samwise Gamgee with her mother's namesake. She does not make a movie appearance.

Roses are round multipetaled flowers that grow on spikey thorn bushes. They come in red, pink, yellow, white, purple, and green, with other genetically modified colors such as black, blue, and orange. They prefer loam soil and full sun, but full sun can bleach them and cause the color to fade. Partial shade can reduce fading but will result in smaller buds. Rose petals are edible and are said to be sweet. Soaking the petals in water creates rose water which can improve skin and gut health. Different colored roses represent different things such as red roses meaning romantic love, yellow roses meaning friendship love, and blue roses meaning mysteriousness.

8. Primrose or Primula

Primrose Gamgee is one of the daughters of Sam and Rose Gamgee. She does not make a movie appearance.

Primula Baggins, born Primula Brandybuck, is the wife of Drogo Baggins and the mother of Frodo Baggins. She and Drogo drowned during a boating accident on the Brandywine River when Frodo was young, leaving him to live with his cousins in Brandy Hall for many years until Bilbo Baggins took him in. She does not make a movie appearance.

Primrose, also known as primula, is a popular garden flower. They have course heart-shaped petals and thick stocks. They come in yellow, red, pink, purple, and white. They have yellow centers. They are poisonous with tiny hairs on the stem that can cause blistering. They prefer partial sun and moist, well-drained, acidic soil. They represent spring, protection, safety, and love.

9. Marigold

Marigold Cotton, born Marigold Gamgee, is the youngest child of Hamfast Gamgee and Belle Goodchild and is the sister to Hamson, Halfred, Daisy, May, and Samwise Gamgee. She later marries Tolman Cotton or Rose Cotton's brother. She is at Bilbo's birthday party, and she is also in The Lord of the Rings Online video game.

Marigold flowers are bright orange and yellow flowers that are round and puff to be spheres. They prefer partial to full sun and warm climates. They can easily self-seed and will most likely return annually. All parts of marigolds are edible from stems to roots to petals; they are even edible raw. They are said to taste sweet or sometimes savory. They have a very pungent scent that repels mosquitos, cabbage worms, whiteflies, and wild rabbits. Marigolds represent power, strength, passion, creativity, the brevity of life, and yellow marigolds can sometimes mean grief or jealousy.

10. Daisy

Daisy Gamgee is the daughter of Hamfast Gamgee and sister to Hamson, Halfred, May, Marigold, and Samwise Gamgee. She does not make a movie appearance.

Daisy Gamgee is also the name of Samwise and Rose Gamgee's daughter. She is named after her aunt. She does not make a movie appearance.

Daisies are white flowers with yellow centers. They can grow from 10 inches to a few feet tall with different variations. Their petals can be frilly, fluffy, or ruffled. They have serrated leaves. They prefer full sun and moist yet well-drained. They grow from summer to fall. They are the international symbol of innocence and purity.

11. Goldilocks

Goldilocks Took, born Goldilocks Gamgee, is the third daughter of Samwise and Rose Gamgee. She later marries Peregrin Took's son Faramir Took. She does not make a movie appearance.

Goldilocks, aka Creepy Jenny or Moneywart, are hanging ferns that have vines of shiny heart-shaped leaves. During mid-spring to summer, they sprout yellow flowers. They can grow up 4 inches (10 cm) tall. They like moist yet well-drained soil and full to partial sun (though definitely partical sun if in hot weather). They are generally deer and pest resistant. They are nontoxic and can be used for herbal teas if desidered though it is not common. It was once used to help "cure" whooping cough. It is known as "good medicine for all diseases".

Goldilocks can also mean a group of buttercup flowers. Buttercup flowers are small yellow flowers with yellow puffed centers. They can have anywhere between 0 to 23 petals. They are often fine with full sun or partial sun but are pickier with their soil by preferring it to be light, cool, and well-drained. They have thick layers of yellow pigment, but they catch air under the layers which causes the flowers to become glossy and shiny. They are often considered weeds. Buttercups are extremely poisonous and can cause blistering of the mouth. They represent joy, youth, purity, happiness, and friendship.

Goldilocks Rocks Bidens, aka Bidens or Spanish Needles, is another type of goldilocks. They are yellow and/or orange flowers with dark yellow centers. They prefer full sun for at least 6 hours a day, partial sun for 4-6 hours a day, and up to 4 hours of full shade. They can grow up to 14 inches (35.56 cm) and prefer moist soil. There are no reports of toxicity, but they are not traditionally eaten. They are excellent for pollinators but are considered weeds. It is part of the aster family and means "two teeth".

9. Gold Berry

Goldberry is the lovely wife of Tom Bombadil. She appears in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and is later sung about by Bombadil in The Lord of the Rings with his song "Hey,Dol! Merry Dol!". She was portrayed in the movies, but she was later cut. She is known as the "River-woman's Daughter" and is described as being beautiful, youthful, and blonde.

Gold Berries, also known as goldenberries and cape gooseberries, are flowering plants that produce small orange fruits. Their flowers are yellow with brown in the center. They grow in hot and humid weather such as in Australia, South Africa, India, Malaysia, and The Philippines. They are oftened eaten and attacked by cutworms, red spiders, and potato tuber moths. Their fruits are often used for pies, sauces, puddings, jams, and ice cream.

My first ever Tumblr review! It was kinda long for instagram, and I wanted to get started on here anyways, so here we are!

I'm just gonna start off by saying that I am a sucker for good worldbuilding. And this series, right after the Lord of the Rings, made me realize that. Seriously, though: you could build a perfect, amazing world and set there the most ugly, annoying story; I would still read and love the heck out of it.

Anyway, in this case not only the worldbuilding is amazing, but also the plot makes the series one of the best fantasy sagas I've ever read.

The author of this series is Elisabetta Gnone, mostly famous for writing the W.I.T.C.H. comics saga

One note before I start: I read the book in Italian, so some names and terms might not be accurate to the English translation (I think that Pervinca is called Lavander and Felì Feliz). I don't know if the people who are reading this are actually English or use another main language, so to avoid confusion I figured it would be better to keep the original Italian names/terms

THE STORY

For obvius reasons I'm not going to get into detail, I'm just giving a general idea of the plot.

The story is set in Fairy Oak, a village located in a valley in an unspecified part of the world. This village has something special: there live, in (almost) peace both magical creatures, such as fairies, witches and wizards, and non-magical creatures, humans. The books are told from the point of view of one of the fairies, Felì, who, like many others of her kind, works as the nanny of two youg twin girls who are set to become witches.

Now, there are two kinds of witches and wizards: those with the power of the Dark and those with the power of Light. Those powers are inherited through one's family. Everyone expects the twins, Vaniglia and Pervinca, to inherit the power of Light, like their mother and aunt before them. However, surprisingly, while Vaniglia indeed becomes a Light Witch, Pervinca inherits the power of Darkness.

In the same days, an ancient Enemy attaks the valley. He doesn't have a name, nor a face; all the villagers know is that He wants to destroy all the beauty of the valley, and for Darkness to prevail. In order to do that, He needs to separate the twins: He wants Pervinca to betray her sisters and turn her back to her family.

The main story is told trough the course of three books. In the same universe the author set five other standalone novels (plus one which should come out in autumn 2021), which focus more on side characters and are a little bit more lighthearted.

WHY I RECOMMEND IT

This is perfect for young kids who want an easy introduction to fantasy books. The plot structure is extremely simple, and yet the story that comes out is one of the most amazing I've ever read, one that I come back to every one in a while to fall back into that familiar, relaxing world.

Granted, it isn't perfect: there are a few bits where the plot does't flow as smoothly as it should; for example, side characters that in one book are Light Wizards become Dark Wizards in the next, bits where two people talk for half of a page and then they realize that four hours have passed... Things like that, which I realized only after reading the books a few times, and probably wouldn't bother a kid who reads them for the first time.

If the setting and the plot aren't interesting enough to tempt you, please take a look at the amazing illustration that I left throught the post, made by the amazing Alessia Martusciello. Every book has about 20 pages filled with those coloured illustrations, mostly not related to the plot, but just snapshots of the daily life in the village, family photos, the twins' magic lessons notebooks... Those alone are worth the price of the books!

(PS: here's the link to the website, where you can check out everything about the saga and more illustrations!)