Jennifer Favorite Archives

Good Tomato

by Janice Northerns She took the purity pledge (Sweet Baby Girl, Super Snow White, Artic Rose), fled the grasp of Big Beef and Better Boy on a Southern Night and, baptized in hydroponics, gleamed waxy and vapid under a fluorescent gaze. She was a good girl (Beauty Queen, Gum Drop, Mighty Sweet,…

Garden Failures

by Eleanor Perenyi It takes a while to grasp that not all failures are self-imposed, the result of ignorance, carelessness or inexperience. It takes a while to grasp that a garden isn’t a testing ground for character and to stop asking, what did I do wrong? Maybe nothing. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words…

Ah, Summer

by Russell Baker Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all. Russell Baker

We Go in Withering July

By Ruth Pitter We go in withering July To ply the hard incessant hoe; Panting beneath the brazen sky We sweat and grumble, but we go. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all. Ruth Pitter

Who Could Ask for More?

By Bev Adams Dirty hands, iced tea, garden fragrances thick in the air, and a blanket of color before me. Who could ask for more? As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all. Bev Adams

The Dormouse and the Doctor

By A.A. Milne There once was a Dormouse who lived in a bed Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red) And all the day long he’d a wonderful view Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue) A Doctor came hurrying round, and he said: “Tut-tut, I am sorry to find you in bed. Just say ‘Ninety-nine’, while…

Answer July

By Emily Dickinson Answer July — Where is the Bee — Where is the Blush — Where is the Hay? Ah, said July — Where is the Seed — Where is the Bud — Where is the May — Answer Thee — Me. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are…

The Roses Get it

by Wilkie Collins I haven’t much time to be fond of anything… but when I have a moment’s fondness to bestow, most times… the roses get it. I began my life among them in my father’s nursery garden, and I shall end my life among them, if I can. Yes. One of these days (please…

In the Meadow – What in the Meadow?

by Christina Georgina Rossetti In the meadow – what in the meadow? Bluebells, Buttercups, Meadow-sweet, And fairy rings for the children’s feet In the meadow. In the garden – what in the garden? Jacob’s-Ladder and Solomon’s-Seal, And Love-Lies-Bleeding beside All-Heal In the garden. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are…

Lodged

by Robert Frost The rain to the wind said, ‘You push, and I’ll pelt.’ They so smote the garden bed That the flowers actually knelt, And lay lodged–though not dead. I know how the flowers felt. Note: This poem perfectly captures the ferocity of summer storms in the garden: As featured onThe Daily Gardener…

Winter a Lingering Season

By John Boswell Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all. John Boswell

The Melancholy Days Are Come

by William Cullen Bryant The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year, Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sear. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all. William Cullen Bryant

You Love the Roses so do I

by George Eliot You love the roses — so do I. I wish The sky would rain down roses, as they rain From off the shaken bush. Why will it not? Then all the valleys would be pink and white, And soft to tread on. They would fall as light As feathers, smelling sweet; and…

It Never Rains Roses

by George Eliot It never rains roses; when we want more roses, we must plant more… Note: Today is the 200th birthday of the English Victorian author George Eliot, who was born on this day in 1819. George Eliot was the pen name for a woman named Mary Ann Evans, and her many works…