spring

'I have had almost every rose that you can grow,' she says, 'and some died, but at least I have made their acquaintance.'

Getting rid of poor plants is as important as seeking out the best.

To many gardeners, seed catalogues are the most accurate depiction we have of the Garden from which humans were expelled.

But along the way we really do learn that marigolds gain enormously in impact when used as sparingly as ultimatums.

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

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

Low maintenance is for homeowners, not gardeners!

Working the soil brings me back to my own nature, as I now understand that tending a garden is the same as taking care of myself.

You can't grow what you don't have, even if it won't grow when you have it.

...if it weren't for the New York State agricultural exemption, the family farm couldn't exist.

Fortunately, by the thirtieth or fortieth or fiftieth year or thereabouts, the gardener strikes that balance by which he has the best of all seasons. By the time one is eighty, it is said, there is no longer a tug of war in the garden with the May flowers hauling like mad against the claims of the other months. All is at last in balance and all is serene. The gardener is usually dead, of course.

At such times I understand that the enjoyment of looking is nothing compared with the pleasure of gardening--and that I would much rather garden than have a Garden.

The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing better than they have ever done before.