We are not born with this good gift, nor do we often acquire it in later life; it comes through our rearing. The fullness of delight in a garden is the bequest of childhood spent in a garden. No study or possession of flowers in mature years can afford gratification equal to that conferred by childish associations with them; by the sudden recollection of flower lore, the memory of child friendships, the recalling of games or toys made of flowers; you cannot explain it; it seems a concentration, an extract of all the sunshine and beauty of those happy summers of our lives when the whole day and every day was spent among flowers. The sober have grown up knowing not when ‘the summer comes with bee and flower.’
(Quoted from page 48 of Writing the Garden, by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers. New York Society Library & Foundation for Landscape Studies, in association with David R. Godine, Publsiher, 2011.)
For a brief biography of Alice Morse Earle, click here. For images of or relating to Alice Morse Earle, click here.
For a brief biography of Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, click here. For images of or relating to Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, click here.
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