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Hello there Everyone!

I thought we could start a new thread for this forum and have a quote a week to lift our spirits when things get a bit Topsy Turvy. I always go to or think about my garden and my containers when I need a filip and a natural smile.

'When the world wearies and society fails to satisfy, there is always the garden.’ - Minnie Aumonier

Do you have any favourites? Let us know.

Have a good week in your gardens! Cheers
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“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”
– Audrey Hepburn

Mona Evans
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YES!!!!
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So now! Taking some wise advice I have changed the heading of this thread ... only I don't know how to do that; mainly because Tech is a mystery in life that others have solved, but not me! SO. Let's sort of start again and enjoy the words that give so much pleasure in the thinking as we consider our gardens and containers. Weekly? Why weekly ... why not whenever? I think WHENEVER rules okay.

Cheers for now

So Everyone -

Whenever arrived just now, how about that? And there I was just talking about it!

Here is one that made me smile.

A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows. – Doug Larson

Cheers now

Love the quote - so true.

It' so great to be back!

Here is one I liked - what do you say?

Gardening is the slowest of the Performing Arts.

I wonder if it is the slowness of plants growing for impatient gardeners or the slowness of gardeners to want to weed? Ah well! It makes me smile either way.

Cheers now

Impatient gardeners! I have a cherry tomato turning red and a cucumber that is about two inches long now.

Hello Everyone from a crisp blue sky winter's day in Johannesburg.

It's pretty coolish for us at 17degreesC today and next week they will be having snow around the bottom end of the country (note use of scientific language) which means that the icy cold front will be visiting us here on the Highveld. Temps are expected to drop to 9 degrees C ... do you know how cold that is for us here when we are used to temps around 20 degrees C? Oh my. Now I know you guys get it much colder than these temps, but for us and my succulent containers we are shivering in this weak sunshine!

Did you all enjoy your 4th July festivities for those who had an Independence Day to celebrate wherever you are in the world? I hope so. Did you perhaps think ahead and make up a couple of containers in Red, White and Blue? Please tell us about them if you did.

Anyway, here is today's wisdom from Gertrude Jekyll -

"A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust."

'...careful watchfulness'. Now there is something interesting to consider when it comes to your containers.

Cheers

I look forward to hearing from you!

No red, white, blue containers and because our weather was so off early in our season, my plants are looking a bit scraggly. I'm glad they are surviving. I think I may have sunflowers this year - the bird bring the seeds to my deck and this year I have a few that are volunteers. Stay warm.

Hello Angie and all,

Sunflowers are such happy flowers and a firm favourite!

Here is something to think about ...

"Flowers don't tell, they show." Stephanie Skeem.

Mustn't forget the beautiful leaves and foliage we get too, and then all the bits that surround us from logs, stones and water features found in the garden ... they all show.

Hope your containers are giving you joy,

Cheers for now.

Hello Everyone,

Here's hoping that all is well in your world and that you have more smiles to contend with today than you have frowns!

I came across this poem about a TOMATO amongst my notes and I thought it was a nice statement for this versatile fruity vegetable. Hope you like it!

Tomato
I see this fruit, this imperfect ball,
it sits on the counter, against the wall;
I’m uncommitted to its ultimate fate,
I got to decide before it’s too late.

It looks ripe, it looks sweet and delicious,
full of vitamins, it is surely nutritious;
bright and red with a dimple on its face,
a flawed perfection that adorns its grace.

Where did it come from? What was its trek?
What gave it its quality? What gave it its speck?
Its youthful green color as it grew on the vine.
Did it fall, was it picked, before it became mine?

What is the best way to bring out its taste?
Should I make a soup? Should I make a paste?
A Bloody Mary? A spicy salsa?
Should I make a sauce, to eat with a pasta?

A lot of thought went into this piece of fruit,
a vegetable some people would dispute;
a tempting odor as I put to my jaw;
I think I’ll write a poem for it and eat it raw.

© Robert Szankowski.


What will you be doing with your tomatoes this season?

Cheers for now!

Eat what I purchased but the squirrels ate most of my cherry tomatoes and broke the branches; so, no tomatoes. I have one small tomato growing on an heirloom tomato plant (Abe Lincoln), a tall spindley almost leafless tomato plant.

Let's hope that the squirrels enjoyed the tomatoes! It's annoying I think, but at the same time somehow all animals have to eat from somewhere! I have mousebirds chomping up my Escheveria second to none; it's winter here and other food sources are scarce. I had such a beautiful patch, including containers, of these Mexican roses but they will come back in summer and hopefully be as pretty. Anyway, here is a quote for today - from Allan Armitage

"Gardening simply does not allow one to be mentally old, because too many hopes and dreams are yet to be realized.”

I think Gardeners (with a capital G!) are really interesting people to know, don't you?

Cheers

I really liked this poem written by a child. It's true. What ever a plant it is, it just is. If it's a rose, it looks like a rose and it does what roses do. No questioning. It just is. I think this is a fine bit of philosophy to incorporate into a gardener's life and it bears thinking more about.

Package of Seeds

They can't see their pictures,
they can't read the label --
the seeds in a package --
so how are they able
to know if they're daisies
or green for the table?
It sounds like a fancy,
it sounds like a fable,
but you do the sowing,
the weeding, the hoeing,
and they'll do the knowing
of how to be growing.

by Aileen Fisher

What do you think?

Cheers!

love it. Out of the mouth of babes!

I will look for others Angie ... Kids poetry is refreshing and simple and a pleasure to spend time with.

Cheers

Hello Everyone - I hope everyone is feeling lucky and well.

I thought we could smile today because Spring has just sprung in South Africa and we are hoping for some spring rains soon. Who knows when they will come, we've had some topsy-turvy weather this year, though nothing as serious or destructive as in many places across the world.

"God made the rain so that Gardeners can get their housework done."

Does this resonate with you? Especially in the warm or bracing months of the year, do you prefer to use your leisure time in the garden? There is something sorted about getting housework done but my oh my, time in the garden is such a pleasure, it's tempting!

Anyway, I hope, wherever you are and in whatever season you find yourself, that your containers are performing well or that you have some good plans to play in the rain!

Cheers now

Hello there,

Here is something to consider ... and it's spring here in South Africa! Yay.

“The first blooms of spring always make my heart sing.” — S. Brown

Have you had any lovely blooms to greet you this season? The Nasturtiums are vibrant and too beautiful for words, the Sweet Williams, Geraniums, African daisies, Lobelia, Pansies and Primula are all looking gorgeous. You just have to smile when you go outdoors for your morning greeting!

What's going on in your containers?

Keep busy ... your garden needs you!

Cheers now!

Hello there ... here is something for you to consider or think about or ponder on when sitting in your garden or near your containers ...

WHAT IS A RAINBOW?

What is a Rainbow?
Does anybody know?
Where does it come from?
And where does it go?

Do the Fairy artists
Paint it on the sky?
With their magic brushes
Dipped in Fairy dye?

Do they get their colours
From the setting sun?
And mix them with the dawn lights
Until everyone--

Blue and Green and Orange
Violet and red
In that bow of beauty
Across the heavens spread?

What is a rainbow?
And where does it go?
Can anybody tell me?
I should like to know.

by Evien G. Beaudry

What were you thinking about? Do tell!

Cheers now

lovely.