Cuttings: Selected Quotes 

The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.
The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on. Joy Hart

You don’t grow plants. You give them an environment in which they grow themselves. Kevin Espiritu

The garden doesn't reward the best gardener. lt rewards the one that sows the seed. So don't procrastinate or wait for the perfect time, just plant something today. Resh Gala

Raindrops on flowers are like tuxedos on groomsmen - things look so good for the occasion and pictures are a must. California Buckwheat Sanctuary

A new beginning is a welcome thing: a new week, a new job, a new term at school. Each brings the thrill of a clean slate—the shining star. The heart leaps up with the chance to try again, to do our best, to sow the seed of something that will grow. Autumn is when we plant the promises of Spring—unsullied, pure, and perfect. Call the Midwife

A garden is a gentle place to learn to adapt to the unexpected. And you get flowers. Lorene Edwards Forkner

Gardening is cheaper than therapy. Until your spouse adds up the receipts. Empress of Dirt

But now in September the garden has cooled, and with it my possessiveness.  The sun warms my back instead of beating on my head... The harvest has dwindled, and I have grown apart from the intense midsummer relationship that brought it on. Robert Finch 

The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many. Oliver Wendell Holmes

By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer’s best of weather
And autumn’s best of cheer.
Helen Hunt Jackson

Things are of no moment in themselves. Only their influence upon our lives is important. They are means to an end, and that end is richness of life.
Gustav Stickley

In an era when the traditional notions of time have all but disappeared,
when the work of a week occurs in a matter of seconds
and the world is no larger than a cell phone,
the steady rhythms and solid surfaces of a garden are a comfort.
Thomas C. Cooper

Our culture is youth obsessed, and the floral world is spring obsessed. If you start looking at what’s growing and living and thriving—or decaying and dying—it’s more abundant. It’s more harmonious. Louesa Roebuck

Whoever uses the spirit that is in him creatively is an artist. To make living itself an art, that is the goal. Henry Miller

God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars. Martin Luther

All the best gardeners are obsessed of course. Nine-tenths of their gardening goes on in their heads. They stare for minutes at a flat of seedlings on the windowsill imagining them in full flower. They lie in their beds on February nights mentally rearranging the beds outside. They sit still in their gardens only when compelled to by social circumstance or exhaustion. They are never content. Gardening is a fantasy. Source not noted

From December to March, there are for many of us three gardens:
the garden outdoors,
the garden of pots and bowls in the house,
and the garden of the mind's eye. Katherine S. White

Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle…a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl.  And the anticipation nurtures our dream. Barbara Winkler

February is merely as long as is needed to pass the time until March.
J. R. Stockton

The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size. Gertrude S. Wister

The biggest mistake people make in the garden is never starting. Nicole Burke

November always seemed to me the Norway of the year. Emily Dickinson

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on. Emily Dickinson

The future of agriculture cannot look like the history of agriculture.
Brijette Peña

Of all the wonderful things in the wonderful universe of God, nothing seems to me more surprising than the planting of a seed in the blank earth and the result thereof. Julie Moir Messervy

To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival. Wendell Berry

God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength.
Vance Havner

Fall is not the end of the gardening year; it is the start of next year’s growing season. Thalassa Cruso

Clutching seedlings in a paper cup in an overheated classroom, we knew we were onto something wonderful. Something bigger than we could grasp. Wonder comes easy to children and gardeners. Lorene Edwards Forkner

In an era when the traditional notions of time have all but disappeared,
when the work of a week occurs in a matter of seconds
and the world is no larger than a cell phone,
the steady rhythms and solid surfaces of a garden are a comfort.
Thomas C. Cooper

Watering chores eat up garden time this month. [August] Remember the basics: Water in the early morning. Water the soil, not the leaves. Water deeply and infrequently rather than often and shallow. Nan Sterman

I want a party dress made of soft, silky poppy petals in dusky pink—except I haven’t felt especially festive lately. The 19th century poet Minnie Aumonier once wrote: “When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden.” Maybe a new frock would provide a lift, or maybe I should just keep painting and imagine a world filled with pink poppy-petal party dresses. Lorene Edwards Forkner

Little deeds are like little seeds, they grow to flowers or to weeds.
Daniel D. Palmer.

I loved rhubarb, that hardy, underappreciated garden survivor that leafed out just as the worst of winter melted away. Not everyone was a fan, especially of the bitter, mushy, overcooked version. Yet sometimes a little bitterness could bring out the best in other flavors. Bitter rhubarb made sunny-day strawberry face the realities of life- and taste all the better for it. Judith Fertig

June: It was early summer; everything was fresh and fair. The grass was green green; the sky was blue, immensely blue; the world was flooded with gracious light. William Steig

On growing zucchini: The big, burly plants take up quite a bit of space in the garden, which you don't want to waste by growing more than you will actually eat. And then there is the more serious risk of boring the household cook to the point where he or she puts their foot down and says they have simply had enough. In a good year, summer squash burnout becomes an imminent risk in most gardening households. Barbara Pleasant

The school shooting in Uvalde, Texas has hung heavy on our hearts this week, but has shown, once again, how tending a garden helps us both cope and endure loss and celebrate life. Planting is an act of faith and optimism, a belief in the future, manifested in berries and bouquets, just as it offers a physical task to occupy our hands, giving our hearts room to begin healing so we can go out into the world and make change. Lorene Edwards Forkner

God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars. Martin Luther

The hum of bees is the voice of the garden. Elizabeth Lawrence

Whether you’re two or ninety-two, you get the same amount of joy when you see a seed germinate. Linda Vater

If we had no winter the spring would not be so pleasant. Anne Bradstreet

Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world. Virgil A. Kraft

"I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become, I will always plant a large garden in the spring. Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature's rebirth? Edward Giobbi

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good. Gardens are living, breathing organisms just like us, imperfect and flawed. Linda Vater

April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain."
T. S. Eliot

April comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers. Edna St. Vincent Millay

The winter garden is my favorite—broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower, celery, spinach, arugula and the list goes on. Should I “summer” in Western Australia or Western Chile so I can have another winter garden? Oh right, I’d miss tomatoes. Sue Martin

Kind hearts are the gardens;
kind thoughts are the roots;
kind words are the flowers;
kind deeds are the fruits. English proverb

The hum of bees is the voice of the garden. Elizabeth Lawrence

To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June.
Jean Paul Sartre

I love the idea that all my senses are always engaged in my garden. It’s a totally sensual experience—the aroma of rosemary as you brush against it coming up the front steps, the burbling bells of water in the fountain, the fuzzy texture of peppermint geranium begging to be rubbed, the rustle of the king palm fronds, and the deep deep bongs of the big timber bamboo as the trunks bang against each other. I never tire of the ever-changing light, the subtle shadows created by the intermittent sunlight streaming through the foliage and ferns. Nancy Goslee Power

I was once on a picnic and pointed out to my date that blue-eyed grasses weren’t technically grasses. And she said: “Nerd.” Alan Wieder

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning. J.B. Priestley

One year’s seeds, seven years’ weeds. A 19th century proverb from Rural America

I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people convinced that they are about to change the world. I am more awed by those who struggle to make one small difference after another. Ellen Goodman

To grow a tomato or a pepper and prepare a meal, from your labor and care, is primordially satisfying. Nell Newman

We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless, while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity. E.O. Wilson

The only thing different about having a green thumb is that you don’t get discouraged by failure. When something doesn’t work, you try again. Beth Weidner

I must have flowers, always, and always. Claude Monet

This food reveals itself for what it is, no mere thing but a web of relationships among a great many living beings. Michael Pollan

Gardening is a keystone habit. It’s one thing you could start in your life that could change all the other things. Gardening gets you outside and into nature. Gardening gets you moving. Gardening gives you immediate access to the most fresh, nutritious food possible. Gardening is one of the easiest ways to make a big difference in your community and in the whole world. Nicole Burke

In a world shadowed by cruelty, violence and loss, is there good reason for the planting of flowers? Ah, yes! For these bursts of color and beautiful blooms are bright dabs of grace, witnesses to a promise, reminders of a spreading beauty more eternal, and therefore stronger, than any evil, than any grief, than any injustice or violence. Douglas Kaine McKelvey

Shall we compare our hearts to a garden—with beautiful blooms, straggling weeds, swooping birds and sunshine, rain—and most importantly, seeds?
Grey Livingston

We must also go beyond the notion that autumn is merely a time of tidying up the garden for the advent of winter and the hope of spring. One of the great charms of the fall season is its sweet disorder.
Allen Lacy

Seeds are intimately connected and intertwined with story and lineage, place and people; they illuminate this beautiful coevolutionary dance that humans and plants have been engaged in for millennia. By growing a network of capable seed stewards, we are making a lasting contribution to seed and food sovereignty. Rowen White

Why I Hand Water: A Love Story. Standing there, hose in hand my mind drifts to other projects that need doing, or it drifts off to absolutely nothing, like a watery meditation. I feed my garden and my garden feeds my soul. The lessons learned, the observations witnessed, and the inspiration provided are countless. I also have many “aha” garden design moments while watering. Kier Holmes

Get us out of the lifestyle section and as far away from home decorating as possible. We’re talking about how we interact with the plant kingdom, not how to choose a throw pillow. Amy Stewart

My goal is to spread the joy of gardening as a practical, meaningful activity that connects people with each other and the earth. Renee Shepherd

Like a Robert Frost poem that begins in delight and ends in wisdom, flowers seduce us with their piercing beauty, but they also have much to teach us about the impermanent nature of life. Ngoc Minh Ngo

[Gardening} allows you to be part of a world that moves to a different, more primal beat. Like walking, it brings a correcting perspective to your own place in that world. Anna Pavord

Surely, if you are privileged to own a plot of earth, it is your duty, both to God and man, to make it beautiful. Beverley Nichols

The spots where gardening and books dovetail, well, those are sweet spots for me. Maybe writers are drawn to gardening because it is outdoors and tactile. Exchanging pen (or keyboard) for trowel moves the brain into a nonverbal, multisensory world. Marta McDowell

Into the garden I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.
Riff on a quote from John Muir

Feeling the warmth of the topsoil, the cool earth just below, knowing just how healthy that dirt is by touch and direct contact with the soil: those are the lovely messy tactile realities of gardening, which is what makes it such a satisfying pursuit in a world where a crystal clear glass screen on our smart phones increasingly mediates how we experience much of the world. Hugh Garvey

Good gardening means patience and dogged determination. There must be many failures and losses, but by always pushing on there will also be the reward of success. Gertrude Jekyll

On a good week, I will spend one entire day in the garden. I work, I sit, I drink, I eat, I look. Flora Grubb

Lettuce is like conversation; it must be fresh and crisp, so sparkling that you scarcely notice the bitter in it.
Charles Dudley Warner

In my part of the world, there is something called “May Gray,” soon followed by “June Gloom”. The marine layer moves in and sits over our houses for a few hours at the beginning and the end of each day. Sometimes, if the layer isn’t in the mood to shove off, it sits around all day, sometimes for weeks at a time. Elizabeth Marro

I’d love to see a world where the best parts of tending a garden and working in horticulture—nurturing and connection—become a part of the fabric of society. Beauty is a seductive invitation to tend to the larger world. Delicious flavors keep us tethered to real food. Nuanced colors keep us learning to see. And hopefully our personal digging in the garden promotes respect and support for all.
Lorene Edwards Forkner

If you step back one or two generations, we’ve all gardened and grown food—our mothers, grandmothers, aunties, or tias. Giving others access to the resources and knowledge to grow their own food is really about teaching them not to forget how. Yolanda Burrell

My grandmother was a fabulous gardener. She would send me home with little bits of sedum so I could have my own garden. In time, she moved me to dianthus and physostegia. Everything about plants made the calendar come to life for me. Everything became cyclical, something to look forward to.
Karen Daubmann

This was one of those perfect New England days in late summer where the spirit of autumn takes a first stealing flight, like a spy, through the ripening country-side, and, with feigned sympathy for those who droop with August heat, puts her cool cloak of bracing air about leaf and flower and human shoulders. Sarah Orne Jewett

Compost! Mulch! Everything that falls from your tree should go back into the ground. In SoCal, we want to preserve our water and soil because the environment is so dry; mulch is a great way to help with that. Compost and mulch save your plants and lower your water bill. Ron Finley

I remain deeply grateful for all the people who have generously shared their knowledge and allowed me to learn from them. I try to repay this generosity every chance I get. Jinny Blom

There are winter days so full of sudden sunlight that they will cheat the wise crocus into squandering its gold before its time. Oscar Wilde

French poet Francis Ponge considers that plants express time in terms of space, by the room “they occupy little by little, filling in a design no doubt predetermined forever. When they have finished this task, a certain weariness overtakes them. And this is the drama of yet another season.
The Art of French Vegetable Gardening

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light and winter in the shade. Charles Dickens

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant. Anne Bradstreet

A light exists in Spring
Not present in the year
at any other period
When March is scarcely here."
Emily Dickinson

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. Hal Borland

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. Doug Larson

Gardening is a continual process of editing. Ted Wells

I’d get up at 5 in the morning and I’d be in the parkway planting sunflowers and arugula in my pajamas and robe and all of a sudden it’s 11 and you haven’t showered, you haven’t eaten…literally the garden seduces you. Ron Finley

Despite the gardener's best intentions, nature will improvise.
Michael P. Garofalo

A house without a garden or orchard is unfurnished and incomplete.
A. Bronson Alcott

There ought to be gardens for all months in the year, in which, severally, things of beauty may be then in season. Sir Francis Bacon

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant. Anne Bradstreet

I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure in the landscape—the loneliness of it—the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it—the whole story doesn't show. Andrew Wyeth

How lovely is the silence of growing things. Evan Dicken

St. Francis of Assisi was hoeing his garden when someone asked what he would do if he were suddenly to learn that he would die before sunset that very day.  I would finish hoeing my garden,“ he replied. Louis Fisher

For me gardening straddles the line between obsession and therapy. Isa Catto

A weed is a plant that is not only in the wrong place, but intends to stay.
Sara Stein

Eat your vegetables, whether warm-season crops (such as beans, corn, melons, peppers, squash, and tomatoes) or cool-season vegetables (like asparagus, beets, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, and onions). Roots, shoots, stems, leaves, buds, blossoms, fruit, and seeds—they all sustain us, and the diversity is a delight. Sunset Western Garden Book of Edibles

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.
May Sarton

Eat seasonally. Eat locally and sustainably. Shop at farmer’s markets. Plant a garden. Conserve, compost and recycle. Cook simply, engaging all your senses. Set the table with care and respect. Eat together. Food is precious.
Alice Waters

This food reveals itself for what it is: no mere thing but a web of relationships among a great many living beings. Michael Pollan

She had only to stand in the orchard, to put her hand on a little crab tree and look up at the apples, to make you feel the goodness of planting and tending and harvesting at last. Willa Cather in Oh Pioneers!