autumn

Forsythia is a sheer joy. There is not an ounce, not a glimmer of sadness or even knowledge in forsythia.

Like longtime parents, longtime gardeners learn when to fret and when to shrug.

And it's a sign of age I think, that I start the day planning to get 5 things done, end it with getting 2 things done, and end up feeling like I've done 12 things.

A garden is a lovely thing
But gardens are not made
By saying "Oh how beautiful"
And sitting in the shade!

When you're hanging on by a thread, identify that thread and do all you can to strengthen it. Gardening is my thread, consistently providing therapy through years of ups and downs. If this blink in time seems a bit crazier, well, perhaps it is. Gardening serves as a gentle reminder that the wheel turns and seasons come and go, each filled with its own impossibly tender beauty.

But here experience speaks: never be too far away from man or machine until the sweep of the last [Bobcat] blade, for those who have watched these men at work will know about the amazing interpretations of a plan that can occur.

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.

I am aware that I have a genetic tendency towards a garden of nothing but Zinnias -- a combination of frugality, laziness, and weakness in the face of all that flash. . . . Knowing what can happen, I restrained myself around the zinnias and didn't pick a single coneflower head.

Looking back on what I have just written, I see I said sow a vast patch. I am sure this is good and sound advice. Always exaggerate rather than stint. Masses are more effective than mingies.

Improbability is not a quality we value in landscapes.

The garden was all in blue and gold, blue was the color of his wife's eyes and gold the color of her hair.

A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.

The garden was all in blue and gold, blue was the color of his wife's eyes and gold the color of her hair.