"A Garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!
Rose plot,
Fringed pool,
Ferned grot -
The veriest school
Of Peace; and yet the fool
Contends that God is not -
Not God! in Gardens! when the eve is cool?
Nay, but I have a sign:
'Tis very sure God walks in mine."
~ Thomas Edward Brown
I'm a terrible gardener. This year we started well, but my husband's dream that took over 40 years to come true ended up consuming most of our time. We are now happy owners of an old boat. We are not great gardeners.
But oh! How I love to see the dahlias in all of their glory! They are still blooming, bigger and brighter than the mums with their tiny orange and yellow flowers. Our petunias are still bravely flowering, purple and white, ignoring the dying stems. It's as if they think that the more they flower, the later the snows will fly.
Our cherry tomatoes produced bucketsfull of fruit. We had a few squash, some kohlrabi, and cauliflower. We dried some chocolate mint leaves, and look forward to sipping hot peppermint tea all winter. My favourite herb, basil, grew well, in spite of terrible neglect.
"God Almighty first planted a garden.
And because the breath of flowers
is far sweeter in the air (where it comes and goes, like the warbling of music)
than in the hand,
therefore nothing is more fit for that delight
than to know what be
the flowers and plants
that do best perfume the air."
~Francis Bacon
"How deeply seated in the human heart
is the liking for gardens and gardening." ~Alexander Smith
We're drawn to plants and flowers. There's such a joy in growing your own vegetables! I've picked romaine lettuce, little tomatoes, cucumbers and basil for a home-grown, delicious salad! It tastes better when you grow it yourself! You invest emotional energy in the plants, along with the sweat of your brow.
"If you have once planted a tree for other than commercial purposes, -and in that case it is usually done by your orders and by the hands of hirelings, - you have always in it a peculiar interest. You care more for it than you care for all the forests of Norway or America. You have planted it, and that is sufficient to make it peculiar amongst the trees of the world." ~Alexander Smith
How about you?
Do you love gardening? Are you drawn to particular flowers or plants? Are you able to grow enough vegetables to feed your family and put some in the freezer for winter?
The joy of gardening is like the joy of being a Christian. His mercies are new every morning. As far as the garden goes, there's always next year.
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