Henry Van Dyke’s Garden Wisdom: Spring Days, Birdsongs, and Cities in Bloom

November 10, 2020

Today marks the birthday of Henry Van Dyke, born on this day in 1852. Van Dyke was an American author, poet, diplomat, and Presbyterian clergyman—a man whose words carried both spiritual warmth and worldly wisdom.

His prose and poetry often blended faith, nature, and practicality, making him a favorite among early twentieth-century readers and, to this day, among gardeners and lovers of simple truth.

Van Dyke’s thoughts on the turning of the seasons capture the keen awareness of one who truly watched the natural world.

His words on spring have endured as one of the most quoted reminders for those who work the soil—and those who wait for it to warm:

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.

— Henry Van Dyke, American author and clergyman

It’s not just wit, but wisdom. Gardeners understand this instinctively—the almanac may declare spring’s arrival, but the earth follows its own calendar. The lesson is patience: trust in timing that is older and wiser than we are.

Van Dyke’s philosophy of life was generous and inclusive, shaped by a belief that every creature and every person has a unique purpose. His most beloved aphorism about talent carries this gentle encouragement:

Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there, except those that sang best.
— Henry Van Dyke, American author and clergyman

It’s a sentiment gardeners recognize in their own way: every flower, every bird, every effort adds to the whole harmony of life. The world thrives on contribution, not competition.

Van Dyke also traveled widely, and his writing occasionally drifted from the pulpit to poetry about place and atmosphere. In one famous pair of lines, he captured in verse the distinct character of two cities known for their spirit:

Oh, London is a man's town; there’s power in the air;
And Paris is a woman’s town, with flowers in her hair.
— Henry Van Dyke, American author and clergyman

Here, too, he observes with both affection and balance—the masculine and feminine, the vigor of London and the grace of Paris, each beautiful in its own right. His perspective mirrored his broader view of the world: everything has its purpose, its song, its bloom.

As a man of both thought and faith, Henry Van Dyke wrote with gratitude for life’s ordinary miracles: a warming spring, a single bird’s song, the shimmer of human nature reflected in cities, seasons, and souls.

On his birthday, his enduring words remind us, as all good gardeners know, that patience, purpose, and appreciation are the truest measures of a flourishing life.