A Pebble

We need ants.

Off and on in my life I have wondered why we need ants. They usually show up in my house where I do not want them.

50 years ago I lived in the mountains southwest of Denver, Colorado.
I had an old Peony bush that would not bloom. It came with the property I bought. I watered it and fertilized it and it would get big buds but no flowers.

One day and older women was looking at it and told me what a fine bush it was and how lucky I was to have it this high altitude in the mountains. I told her I thought so too, "but it gets nice big buds and they show color, but they will not open." "Really" she dug in the soil around the plant, " that's your problem, you do not have any ants !". She proceeded to tell me that peony's have a heavy sap on their buds, this keeps them shut tight. You need ants to eat the sap so they will open." I told her I had relatives in Denver who had peony's so I could probably get some ants and transplant them."Yes, but be careful, you want the ants that are around their bushes. Don't get red ants, you need the little ants" So I did. My children's Great-grandmother had peony bushes so I got ants from her. She knew all about needing ants to get them to bloom. "Every  one knows that." I think she was a little put out I hadn't ask her about my peony that would not bloom.

So there is a pebble