Sunday Inspiration: The Joy of Growing

IMG_0626I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow. -David Hobson

‘Tis the season for gardening, and my husband and I love to get our hands dirty.

We just returned from working in our small vegetable plot in the community garden here at Chautauqua, and this photo is of the shade garden in front of our cottage that we’ve been lovingly tending for several years. The garden is definitely a work in progress, but we’re learning so much about what we can grow and what we shouldn’t try here but save for another garden in our future.

I agree that there are many good reasons to garden, but the primary reason for me is the simple joy in seeing plants grow because of our loving care.

What could be better than that?

How does your garden grow?

4 Comments

  1. Martha on June 29, 2014 at 8:48 am

    Lovely Emilie. Thank you for the Hobson quote. Because of my grandmother’s love for quotes, I live with the following one in many forms from garden art to bookmarks to a framed copy. I even have it in her handwriting on the back of a church bulletin. You’re probably familiar with it

    The kiss of the sun for pardon,
    The song of the bird for mirth,
    One is nearer God’s heart in the garden
    Than any place else on earth. Dorothy F. Gurney

    (from memory, may not be exact)

    • Emilie Richards on June 29, 2014 at 9:41 am

      Thank you, Martha, for another wonderful garden quote.

    • Terry Guerra on June 29, 2014 at 10:56 am

      Such a coincidence, Emilie, I was feeling the same way this morning as i worked on my plants. I enjoy it more and more each year, and watching them grow and bloom makes me smile.

  2. Debbie Haupt on June 30, 2014 at 11:07 am

    Emilie I love your sentiment that you grow to please your soul. Me too! My husband grows the veggies and I grow the flowers. We recently re-landscaped the front of our home, we went from more to less and I love it.
    I also have a native wildflower garden in my backyard that I reseed every year from the previous years seeds.
    Thanks for sharing 🙂

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