Quotable Gardener

by Charles Elliott (Editor), Charles Elliott (Editor)

• New

  Paperback
  2002

  $15.12

  This delightful collection of wisdom, insight and humour, from Diane Ackerman to Emile Zola, captures the essence of the world's most popular hobby. Here are over four hundred quotations - not only one-line zingers but stanzas of verse and full paragraphs of narrative - on the endless fascination of gardening. The great gardening writers of past and present are amply represented, but these varied selections also range the entirety of recorded literature, from the Bible and the tenth-century Japanese diarist Sei Shonagon through Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dickens, Walt Whitman, and even Prince Charles. For anyone who counts their hours in the soil as their most valued, The Quotable Gardener is the ideal gift - an invaluable inspiration during the gardening months, and a treasured companion during the long, desperate winter.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2000

  $3.29

  The tulips are too excitable - Sylvia Plath African marigolds have about as much freshness as the leather of a new football, without the quality of being easily kicked out of the way - Christopher Lloyd The garden that is finished is dead - H.E. Bates When Wordsworth's heart filled with pleasure at a crowd of golden daffodils, it's a safe bet he didn't see them two weeks later - Geoff Hamilton These are just a few of over 400 quotations featured in this book on the endless fascination of gardening. As well as witty one-liners, the book contains stanzas of verse and full paragraphs of narrative. It includes sections on gardening wisdom, planting and design, the seasons, enthusiasms, and the edible and inedible, all introduced by acclaimed gardening star Charles Elliott. Gardening writers past and present are represented, but the selections also range through a variety of recorded literature, from the Bible, through Chaucer and Dickens, to Prince Charles. Other featured authors include Jane Austen, P.G. Wodehouse, Gertrude Jekyll, Ted Hughes, Russell Page, Vita Sackville-West and Oscar Wilde.