A May Pilgrimage: Louisa Yeomans King’s Call to Gardens Beyond
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
May 31, 1905
Dearest garden reader,
On this day, we hear the wise voice of Louisa Yeomans King, enchanting gardeners of her time—and ours—with her enduring recommendation to explore the blooming marvels beyond one’s own garden gate.
In her beloved book The Flower Garden Day by Day, she writes with heartfelt enthusiasm about the delights waiting in the late spring air:
“MAY 31.
Take a part of this month if possible, and visit the Arnold Arboretum, Boston, for lilacs, Asiatic cherries, crabs, and general beauty;
and Highland Park, Rochester, N. Y., for the great lilac collection.
The notebooks should go, too;
and while it is difficult to leave one's own garden at so interesting a time, a great enlarging of the gardening horizon is the result of such travels.”
Imagine the thrill of such journeys, dear reader—the rows of lilacs, heavy with fragrant bloom, the delicate petals of Asiatic cherries fluttering in warm breeze, the crabapple trees blushing with promise.
Louisa’s invitation to bring notebooks reminds us that a gardener’s eye is never merely casual; it is eager, learning, gathering inspiration and knowledge wherever the path leads.
Have you ever found yourself torn between the joy of tending your own patch and the longing to wander gardens anew?
What treasures, botanical or otherwise, have you discovered when stepping outside familiar borders?
Do travel and observation feed the roots of your gardening soul as surely as sun and rain?
Louisa’s words remind us that to garden well is also to explore boldly—to bring new visions into one’s own cultivated spaces and to let fresh inspiration breathe life into familiar soil. May you set aside time, notebook in hand, to follow her sage advice and embrace the abundant beauty waiting just beyond your gate.
May each garden visit be a journey of wonder and learning, expanding your horizons like petals unfolding to catch the sun.
