White Iris growing in the In The White Garden at Sissinghurst
Like other groups, Northumberland Master Gardeners have been unable to meet during the month of May. In the absence of a speaker report, we have decided to share some quotes that inspire us as gardeners. Hopefully they will inspire you as well.
In honour of the daffodil, harbinger of spring and one of the first spring-flowering bulbs to bloom in the garden, Tanya Crowell has this poem to share with you
“She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head
And whispered to her neighbour:
“Winter is dead” A.A. Milne
We all know A.A. Milne (1882 – 1956) as the author of Winnie The Pooh. he also wrote many poems including the one above. An apt thought for this May as winter did not seem to want to give up.
Joy Cullen shares her favourite garden quote, attributed to Thomas Jefferson who said: “although I am an old man I am still a young gardener”
I am sure many of us can relate.
Thomas Jefferson’s plantation Monticello located in Charlottesville Virginia was a botanic laboratory of ornamental and useful plants collected from around the world. Jefferson grew 330 vegetable varieties and 170 varieties of fruits. Monticello is the only US presidential and private home on the Unesco World Heritage list. Although currently closed to visitors due to COVID-19, you can go online and explore The Jefferson Monticello virtually.
Judy Harris wishes to pass along this thought to gardeners “The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, , and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before” Vita Sackville-West, 1892 – 1962) .
Vita Sackville-West was an English author and garden designer whose garden at Sissinghurst Castle, a romantic and inspiring garden, has become world famous and is currently visited by approximately 200,000 people a year. We can all be inspired by the gardens designed by Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicholson. Probably, the most famous garden room created by Vita Sackville-West is the White Garden. Only white, green, grey and silver plants are allowed to grow in this garden You will find it filled with such things as white roses, arum lilies, white cosmos, white goats rue, white marguerites, hydrangea, and weeping silver pear. Vita wanted this garden to shine at twilight and was to be at its prime in July when Vita and Harold would share their evening meal there.
I would like to share this quote from one of my gardening heroes, Gertrude Jekyll : “A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industy and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust”
Gerturde Jekyll ( 1843 – 1932) was a British horticulturist and garden designer who created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. Her 15 acre garden, Munstead Wood has become one of the most famous gardens in England. The residence was designed by her friend Edwin Lutyens. Jekyll, is famous for the plant combinations she chose in designing her gardens. Some of her design tips include, use colour, white is all right, lose the labels, and don’t go buy plants just because you love them, give thought to your choice.