Henri Frederic Amiel’s Garden Journal: A Poetic Walk Through Spring Blooms
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
April 29, 1852
On this day, Swiss philosopher and poet Henri Frederic Amiel took a spring stroll in his garden.
Among irises and lilacs, he discovered a sudden golden glow: a small-leaved corchorus had flowered overnight, half-hidden beneath a thick clump of shrubs.
The sight stopped him in his tracks, and he recorded the moment in his journal:
I went out into the garden to see what progress the spring was making.
I strolled from the irises to the lilacs, round the flowerbeds, and in the shrubberies.
Delightful surprise! At the corner of the walk, half-hidden under a thick clump of shrubs, a small-leaved corchorus had flowered during the night... the little shrub glittered before me...
Mother of marvels, mysterious and tender Nature, why do we not live more in thee?
It is the perennial ache of April: to dwell more deeply in the beauty that surprises us, to let the smallest blossom alter the whole day.
Amiel’s words remind us that nature offers marvels enough—if only we pause to see them.
