Greenwild

Captain Malarky leads a weary Daisy toward a lively party. The revelers indicate that they are celebrating an event called Twelfth Night. Captain Malarky explains that they are now in the land of “Mallowmarsh, the finest garden in the Greenwild” (76). A woman whom Malarky names as Commander White stands up to give a speech, designating Twelfth Night as a night for “children [to] run riot” (77). The kindly commander leads Daisy through the revelry to her home, which is grown into a tree, apparently via magic. The commander and a woman named Miss Tufton give Daisy tea, and the commander asks a “larder tree” to produce plums, which it does, magically and instantly.

The commander explains that her role is to be the “head mallow of Mallowmarsh” (40). She urges Daisy to call her by her given name, Artemis. (At the end of the novel, Daisy will learn that Artemis is really her paternal grandmother.) Now, Artemis tells Daisy that she is not a prisoner, but she does warn her against leaving, explaining that it is “not a safe time to be a Botanist in the Grayside” (85). When Daisy looks outside and sees dandelions as tall as trees, she realizes that this world contains the “help” that her mother promised she would find in Kew Gardens.

Daisy wakes in Artemis’s treehouse. She eats breakfast with Artemis and a boy named Indigo Podsnap, who lives nearby. She also meets Indigo’s pet bird, Jethro. Daisy observes that the plants around her have magical properties.

Artemis is surprised to learn that Daisy doesn’t know about Mallowmarsh or the Greenwild. She explains that Daisy came through the “Mallow gate” that separates the Greenwild and “the Grayside,” her name for the world in which Daisy lives. Daisy explains the circumstances of her mother’s disappearance and is surprised when a Mallowmarsh resident named Miss Tufton recognizes Leila’s necklace. When Miss Tufton touches the metal daisy, the petals furl and unfurl. Artemis explains that both Daisy and Leila are “Botanists.”

Artemis explains that “in the Greenwild, Botanists are people who use green magic” (96), or magic having to do with plants. She contends that Napoleon “adopted” Daisy because he recognized that she is a Botanist. Suddenly, Captain Malarky enters to announce the presence of an intruder who doesn’t belong in the Greenwild. While the adults hurry to handle this issue, Indigo explains the uptick in recent intruders and shares his concern that these invaders are “Grim Reapers,” or “evil giants who go around chopping down every tree in the world with their giant scythes” (97). Indigo is uncertain whether the Grim Reapers are real figures or mere legends.

Artemis and Miss Tufton return. Artemis explains that green magic comes from nature and that the Greenwild, which has more magic than the Grayside, is home to remarkable plants. Botanists are tasked with taking care of and responsibly using these plants and their magic. Daisy cannot understand why she was never told about her lineage as a Botanist. She then considers all the inexplicable things she has seen, like the flowers that her mother conjured in the desert. When Artemis states that Botanists have been disappearing, Daisy realizes that Leila knew about her and Daisy’s magical powers and kept them a secret. Artemis asks Daisy to tell her story to “the Bureau of Botanical Business” (104), the ruling body of the Greenwild, which has been reluctant to mount a search-and-rescue mission for the missing Botanists.

As Daisy, Artemis, and Indigo ride a boat made from a giant lily pad, Indigo and Artemis explain that the Mallowmarsh school, which teaches green magic, will soon begin. They believe that Daisy should attend. Daisy is doubtful that she can do magic, but she reflects that plants have always responded to her.

Artemis explains that the Botanists began hiding in the Greenwild after enduring centuries of persecution as witches. She describes the Greenwild as “a sanctuary” that only those with green magic can access.

As Daisy and Artemis enter a grand building, Daisy is overwhelmed by all the marvelous things that the plants can do in the Greenwild. Indigo explains that there are many “Botanical arts,” including architecture, music, and fashion—all of which are based in plants. Daisy bristles when Artemis contends that Leila’s failure to instruct her daughter in green magic is “plain irresponsible.”

Daisy meets Brightly Marigold, the “Keeper of the Seed Bank” (116), who will be one of Daisy’s teachers at the Mallowmarsh school. Daisy and Artemis then continue to a tailor’s shop, where they encounter an elderly lady named Elspeth who lectures her niece, nicknamed “The Professor,” about making a “suitable friend” who befits her family’s lineage in Mallowmarsh. Daisy receives a school uniform that includes overalls and a trowel, much to her delight. As they leave the tailor’s shop, a large dog suddenly launches itself at Daisy.

Daisy cringes, fearing that she about to be bitten, but the dog, Brutus, merely licks her. The dog’s owner is Artemis’s deputy commander, Ferrus Sheldrake. He expresses his fear that Daisy is “a spy.” Although Artemis defends her, Daisy finds his words hurtful.

When Daisy reports Sheldrake’s unkind words to Miss Tufton and Indigo, they dismiss the deputy as “paranoid” and unkind. Daisy then describes Craven to Artemis and Miss Tufton. When she references a constellation of moles on his wrist, Miss Tufton contends that this Craven “must be” someone named Cardew. Artemis quickly rushes off without explaining Miss Tufton’s comment, but Indigo tells Daisy that Cardew was an infamous murderer whom everyone believed to have died 15 years ago.

Indigo shows Daisy various fantastical animals, revealing his knack for animal care. The two children compare their respective upbringings, each expressing jealousy over the other’s experiences. Indigo explains that the Greenwild is as large as the Grayside; although green magic tends to run in families, some people naturally develop it due to their intense love of nature.