Gardening quotes

Each month, a gardening-related quote is added to this page.

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” by an anonymous ancient Greek person.
“Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectedly and without law, and must be plucked where it is found, and enjoyed for the brief hour of its duration.” by D. H. Lawrence.
“The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.” by Thomas Jefferson.
“Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul.” The Koran.
“God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.” by Francis Bacon.
“Gardening is learning, learning, learning. That’s the fun of them. You’re always learning.” by Helen Mirren.
“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.” by A.A. Milne.
“How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence.” by Benjamin Disraeli.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is today.” A Chinese proverb.
“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” by Mahatma Gandhi.
“Plant and your spouse plants with you; weed and you weed alone.” by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
“To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.” by William Blake.
“Gardening is not a rational act.” by Margaret Atwood.
“All gardeners know better than other gardeners.” A Chinese proverb.
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” by Abraham Lincoln.
“Sweet, sane, still nakedness in nature! Ah if poor, sick, prurient humanity in cities might really know you once more!” by Walt Whitman in Specimen Days, 1882.
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” by Marcus Tullius Cicero.
“No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.” by Thomas Jefferson.
“My life now is just trees. Trees and champagne.” by Judi Dench.
“Gardening has just sort of grown on me. I find it therapeutic. And I like smelly things.” by Clive Anderson.
“The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for him there.” by George Bernard Shaw.
“I love things that are indescribable, like the taste of an avocado or the smell of a gardenia.” by Barbra Streisand.
“Do not spread the compost on the weeds.” by William Shakespeare (in Hamlet).
“I think we all have a dream of what it would be like not to work and grow heirloom tomatoes, and I do have that dream. It would be lovely. I do love gardening and all of that, but I also love my work.” by Helen Mirren.
“My neighbour asked if he could use my lawnmower and I told him of course he could, so long as he didn’t take it out of my garden.” by Eric Morecambe.
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” by Audrey Hepburn.
(submitted by Sue Sedelies)