Jo Brielyn - A Garden of Inspiration: Quotations for Lovers of Gardening and Growing

Hatherleigh Press is committed to preserving and protecting the natural resources of the earth. Environmentally responsible and sustainable practices are embraced within the companys mission statement. Visit us at www.hatherleighpress.com and register online for free offers, discounts, special events, and more. A Garden of Inspiration Text copyright 2015 Hatherleigh Press Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request. ISBN: 978-1-57826-554-1 eBook ISBN: 978-1-57826-555-8 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Cover and Interior Design by Carolyn Kasper v3.1

OU SENSE it the first time your hands sink into the earth and the aroma of fresh soil fills the air. The feeling deepens when the first flower emerges and the first vegetable is plucked from the vine. Before long you are plotting additional beds, searching for new variations to plant, nurturing each new addition like a proud parent. The world around you seems new. The changing climates and seasons hold more significance. You are bonded with nature.

You are giving back something to the Earth you live on, making it more beautiful and replenishing it with new growth. Soon, you find yourself wandering to the garden for no particular reason. Suddenly it has become a haven for you when you need healing. It is here that you discover that more than plants are cultivated in a garden. The gardener also grows. Your breathing slows and your mind relaxes with every movement of the hoe and trowel.

Sweat and soul collide in the garden with growth as its result. That is when you know it. You are a gardener. We invite you now to take a relaxing stroll through the pages of A Garden of Inspiration. Let these words speak to your gardeners heart and inspire your love of nature, as we celebrate the true spirit of gardening!

HEN I go into the garden with a spade, and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what I should have done with my own hands. R ALPH W ALDO E MERSON There is peace in the garden. Peace and results.

R UTH S TOUT There are many tired gardeners, but Ive seldom met old gardeners. I know many elderly gardeners but the majority are young at heart. Gardening simply does not allow one to be mentally old, because too many hopes and dreams are yet to be realized. The one absolute of gardeners is faith. Regardless of how bad past gardens have been, every gardener believes that next years will be better. It is easy to age when there is nothing to believe in, nothing to hope for, gardeners, however, simply refuse to grow up.

A LLAN A RMITAGE The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul. A LFRED A USTIN No sooner did I bend over and scratch the soil with the hoe that I began to unearth bits and pieces of my past. Memories forever rooted in time were clustered in my garden consciousness like potatoes, waiting, crying to be dug up. I plant flowers and vegetables. N ANCY H. N ANCY H.

J ORDAN So, yes, I do experience a type of reverie as a gardener. But it is not something I control or strive for. When I find spirituality in my garden, it seems to go hand in hand with hard work and diligence. Like a burst of sunshine on a cloudy day, a feeling of peace will come over me and grab me by surprise. I dont really know why or how it happens. But then again, I wouldnt want it any other way.

F RAN S ORIN Gardening is a metaphor for life, teaching you to nourish new life and weed out that which cannot succeed. N ELSON M ANDELA Garden making, like gardening itself, concerns the relationship of the human being to his natural surroundings. R USSELL P AGE No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, no culture comparable to that of the garden But though an old man, I am but a young gardener. T HOMAS J EFFERSON An hours hard digging is a good way of getting ones mind back in the right perspective. R ICHARD B RIERS It was a perfect day For sowing Nothing undone Remained; the early seeds All safely sown. And now, hark at the rain, Windless and light, Half a kiss, half a tear, Saying good-night.

E DWARD T HOMAS , Sowing In almost every garden, the land is made better and so is the gardener. R OBERT R ODALE The great challenge for the garden designer is not to make the garden look natural, but to make the garden so that the people in it will feel natural. L AWRENCE H ALPRIN A garden is not a place: it is a passage, a passion. We dont know where were going; to pass through is enough; to pass through is to remain. O CTAVIO P AZ A garden is a reflection of its owner, a thing of beauty that changes over time, a window to the creativity within. L EE M ILLER To create a garden is to search for a better world.

In our effort to improve on nature, we are guided by a vision of paradise. Whether the result is a horticultural masterpiece or only a modest vegetable patch, it is based on the expectation of a glorious future. This hope for the future is at the heart of all gardening. M ARINA S CHINZ There is peace within a garden, a peace so deep and calm, That when the heart is troubled, its like a soothing balm. Theres life within a garden, a life that still goes on, Filling the empty places when older plants have gone. Theres glory in the garden at every time of year.

Spring, summer, autumn, winter, to fill the heart with cheer. So ever tend your garden, its beauty to increase. For in it youll find solace. And in it youll find peace. L ADY R OSAMUND L ANGHAM We gardeners are healthy, joyous, natural creatures. We are practical, patient, optimistic.

We declare our optimism every year, every season, with every act of planting. C AROL D EPPE , The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-reliance in Uncertain Times To garden, you open your personal space to admit a few, a great many, or thousands of plants which exude charm, pleasure, beauty, oxygen, conversation, friendship, confidence, and other rewards should you succeed in meeting their basic needs. This is why people garden. It can be easy but challenging, and the rewards are priceless. T OM C LOTHIER Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.