“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.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour”
~William Blake: Auguries of Innocence
“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.”
~Iris Murdoch, Irish author
“He who plants a garden
Plants happiness”
~ Chinese Proverb
“Autumn is a second spring
When the leaves are like flowers”
~ Albert Camus
“I try for beauty and harmony everywhere, and especially for harmony of colour. A garden so treated gives the delightful feeling of repose, and refreshment, and purest enjoyment of beauty, that seems to my understanding to be the best fulfilment of its purpose; while to the diligent worker its happiness is like the offering of a constant hymn of praise. For I hold that the best purpose of a garden is to give delight and to give refreshment of mind, to soothe, to refine, and to lift up the heart in a spirit of praise and thankfulness.”
~ Gertrude Jekyll (Wood and Garden)
“All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today”
~Indian proverb
As someone who is passionate about plants and flowers and garden design, here are some of my favourite public and private gardens and flower portraits from all my travels. When I started this blog in April 2013 I didn’t have a garden of my own but managed to squeeze a few specimens into pots to adorn my front ‘patio’ (OK so that’s stretching the truth of my outside space, but it was big enough for a table and chairs amongst the pots – just!) Three years later in April 2016 I moved to Cornwall and finally got a small patch of outside again. You can follow the garden on my new Cornish Blog, where I am slowly coming to understand my new plot of land in my new county.
I will try to find out the Latin names of any portraits I publish here, but if I can’t and you can, or if I have made a mistake in naming anything then I won’t be at all offended if you step in to help me out. In fact I would appreciate your help in naming some of the plants that I can’t.
Earth laughs in flowers 
From one gardener to another, I would like to say that I love your blog! I have nominated you for The Liebster Blog Award which I hope you will accept! The link is: http://sherrimatthewsblog.com/2013/06/26/back-to-business-another-liebster-blog-award/ Many congratulations 🙂
That is very kind of you Sherri, the nomination is much appreciated, but I am going to keep this blog award free as it is purely for photography. I hope you don’t mind. I will stop by and have a look at your blog though and your other nominees. Thanks again.
Jude xx
Hi Jude,
Your flowers have brighten up my mornings truly. Presenting you with the Versatile Blogger Award and the My Favourite Things award. I agree this blog should stay filled with flowers and free of clutter, so please do not feel obligated to repost or pass on the awards if you have no wish to. Have a good day today 🙂 – Nomination post here: https://weliveinaflat.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/bloggers-are-noisy/
Thank you weliveinaflat – it is nice to know that my photos make someone happy (other than myself) – your nomination is very much appreciated, and I shall visit your blog and see who else is deserving of this award.
Jude xx
I’ve often encountered this four-word excerpt of the Emerson quotation on the Internet, but the truncated version conveys quite a different sense from the phrase in context. It’s from a poem called “Hamatreya,” which you can read at:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/184627
There’s a brief commentary about the difference at:
http://blog.karenjoslin.net/2011/01/24/earth-laughs-in-flowers/
Thanks for this Steve. I rather like it in context – we humans are here for such a brief time whilst nature goes on and on, evolving all the time despite man’s interference.
I love your blog name….that is why when we garden or see flowers they take all the stress away in the world…:robbie:-)
They do indeed 🙂 Thanks for calling in to my site Robbie.
Lovely words, wise words. The best match possible for the beauty of nature and your fine photography. I had a look around, Jude. Your blog is a treat for sore eyes.
Good night to you from The Rhine Valley ♥
Dina
Many thanks Dina – I am browsing around your blog now, such wonderful photography I think I will be here for a while! And I am now your new follower 🙂
That’s wonderful! 🙂
All your photos, writings, etc on all your blogs are GREAT! How on earth do you manage 4 of them, and well and prolific~ly?? You rock!
Thanks! I thought the photos and words should be separate, and then that the flowers would attract different people to the photos (which now seem to be mostly challenges) I’m looking at merging some of them next year, but will probably keep the flower one separate.
I do have a LOT of photos 🙂
From just trying to keep one going (I had 2, but the other was totally neglected) I am impressed by all you do. They have a lot of great writing as well. I am inspired by your diligence and talent!
Good Morning , nice to meet You and Your blog 🙂 Great posts, great ideas , pleasure to be here , i wish You the best,in free time see my little place too, Regards from Poland , EM
Thanks for your visit EM – you have some stunning photos/artwork on your site.
Jude xx
Thanks for commenting on my A-Z retrospective so I could find you. These photos are wonderful. I love the name of your blog, all these quotes on your about page, that it is “awards free” , and a refreshingly clean design. My favorite of your A-Z is the Tulip. I just got some for mother’s day from my daughter that are gorgeous. I only have a few of your list in my garden (clematis, succulents) as we did a redo recently and pulled out a lot of things…I like a more wild-looking “English Garden” type, and husband is more of the minimalist, open space opinion. It was a huge compromise for me. And I love the watercolor–are you the artist? Gail
Thank you for visiting me Gail. I am happy that you enjoyed looking around. I find it difficult to choose a favourite, but I do love tulips and buy loads during the spring. I usually plant a few in pots too, but not this year. Managed to find plenty in Cornwall though 🙂 I love the cottage-garden style especially in a walled garden, and garden ‘rooms’ (Jekyll is one of my favourite designers) but I also like courtyards stuffed full of plants.
Hi Jude,
Iris from Wandering Iris invited me to be part of a Virtual Blog Tour, which I agreed to and will be posting on Monday, July 21. It is also my turn to extend an invitation to one or more people who’s work I’d like to introduce my readers/followers to. There are four questions to answer and you can also add your photos to the post. I would like to invite you to join the Virtual Blog Tour. You post would be on Monday, August 4 th. Please say yes, I love your blog and would like others discover your wonderful blog.
Sounds like you’ve got as much ‘garden’ as I’ve got on my balcony (with a few potted herbs) – LOL.
Vicki
I had a balcony where I lived previously, this house was supposed to be temporary (a year) as I want a garden, but we have been here 3 years now. Oh, well, gives me an excuse to visit other gardens.