Thoughts and Meditations on Gardening- 7

Dogwood (Cornus spp.)

After all, I don't see why I am always asking for private, individual, selfish miracles when every year there are miracles like white dogwood. ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh


Mountain Laurel ( Kalmia latifolia)

And miracles of many different kinds from flowers

Zinnia and the Bee

and herbs and vegetables

Rosell 'Jamaican cocktail (Hibiscus sabdariffa)

Little Miracle Peas

and fruits

 

White donut peaches

and trees

 

and even fungus.

Don't you agree?

 

 

Thoughts and Meditations on Gardening - 4

The earth laughs in flowers

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The quote above comes from Emerson's poem, Hamatreya, which you can read in full at the link.  Here is the excerpt that includes the quote:

Earth laughs in flowers, to see her boastful boys
Earth-proud, proud of the earth which is not theirs;
Who steer the plough, but cannot steer their feet
Clear of the grave.

A bit more somber than the original sentiment evoked by the quote.  The poem provides something of an indictment of humankind's boastful, yet ignorant indignities toward Nature.  And, yet, to me, it also carries a more hopeful message of Nature shrugging off the indignities, and laughing back at us with the strength of her powers, while our human bodies must return, eventually, with humility, within her fold.

Emerson is the source of my favorite definition of a weed, "A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."

Thoughts and Meditations on Gardening - 3

From her Wikipedia Page

Jenny Uglow  is a British biographer, critic and publisher. The editorial director of Chatto & Windus, she has written critically acclaimed biographies of Elizabeth Gaskell, William Hogarth, Thomas Bewick and the Lunar Society, among others, and has also compiled a women's biographical dictionary.

She won the 2002 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the 2003 Hessell-Tiltman Prize for The Lunar Men: The Friends who Made the Future 1730–1810, and her works have twice been shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize. As of 2013, she is President of the Alliance of Literary Societies.

In this Guardian article of favorite new books for the year 2002, one literary critic wrote of The Lunar Men:

Jenny Uglow's The Lunar Men (Faber) is the best new book I've read this year - full of unexpected information, amazing characters and the real sense that scientific curiosity is as exciting as any "artistic" pursuit. The orderly niceties of 18th-century polite society never interested me - but here is raw energy, commercial, intellectual, pig-headed, far-sighted.

Far sighted indeed.  Here's some recent research that supports the quote above, including links to studies showing various roles of plants and landscapes in human health and well-being.

Here's another one by the USDA Forest Service showing a correlation (not necessarily causation) on the links between trees and human health.

Thoughts and Meditations on Gardening - 2



I searched around for an appropriate accompaniment to this Greek Proverb, and came across Princeton University's 2000 Valedictory Address by Andrew Houck. As the Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says in his introduction, "His speech, considered by many to be the best in years, was filled with humor and wonderful metaphors."  Here's one of those metaphors, but read the whole thing.

Whatever we do, whether we make a great scientific breakthrough, delight people with our music, or raise a loving family, I would encourage all of us not to spend our entire lives lounging in our ancestors' shade, but to venture out in the sun ourselves, ensuring a well-shaded future for the comfort of those to come.

Having completed his PhD at Harvard University in 2005, Dr. Houck is now an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton.

Thoughts and Meditations on Gardening - 1



Book Cover Picture from Amazon
Bäume. Betrachtungen und Gedichte , (Trees: Reflections and Poems)



Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life. 

~ Herman Hesse

Originally from Wandering.   More here.

Name the Series

Master Gardener Mary Crooks has come up with an idea for a Blog series - periodic quotes about gardening from poets, philosophers, founding fathers, famous people, etc.

Here's Master Gardener Kathy Engle on the writer Karel Čapek, The Spirit of a Gardener, for example.

I put up a poll to the right which will stay there for the next 10 days or so, with some of the suggestions for naming the series.

Once named, there will be periodic blog entries with the quote.  And if you come across an appropriate quote to include, just send it to any of our editors, along with proper attribution so we can credit the source.

Cast your vote!  Any and all can participate, but the poll will only allow one vote (per computer).

If you have another suggestion for the name of the series, put it in the comments section.

Update: February 5, 2013 - 9 votes were cast, with three options garnering 2 votes each, and three options getting 1 each. I let Mary Crooks, who came up with the idea, decide, and she chose “Thoughts and Meditations on Gardening”, so watch for a continuing series on the blog with that as a title.