The Wise Wit: Geoffry Charlesworth’s Garden Observations

September 29, 1920

Today, we honor the birth of Geoffry B. Charlesworth, whose wit and wisdom continue to delight those of us who recognize our own horticultural obsessions in his words.

Consider his enchanting reflection on Physoplexis comosa, the Devil's Claw:

We like people not just because they are good, kind, and pretty but for some indefinable spark, usually called "chemistry," that draws us to them and begs not to be analyzed too closely.

Just so with plants.

In that case, my favorite has to be Physoplexis comosa.

This is not merely because I am writing at the beginning of July when the plant approaches maximum attractiveness.

In A Gardener Obsessed, how perfectly he captures the physical demands of our beloved pursuit:

A garden is a Gymnasium; an outlet for energy, a place where accidents occur, where muscles develop, and fat is shed.

And what gardener has not felt the truth of this observation:

Uneventful living takes up most of our time.

Gardening is part of it, possibly a trivial part to the rest of the world, but by no means less important to the gardener than the big events.

But perhaps his most knowing words come from The Opinionated Gardener, where he exposes that universal gardener's affliction - the endless desire for more plants:

Every gardener knows this greed.

I heard a man looking at a group of plants say, "I have all the plants I need."

Ridiculous.

He said it because he was leaving for South America the next day, and he didn't have his checkbook, and it was December, and he didn't have a cold frame.

How deliciously he skewers our collective inability to resist yet another botanical treasure!

Is there a single one among us who has not uttered similar protestations, only to succumb to temptation at the very next plant sale?