Gardening gives one back a sense of proportion about everything — except itself. – May Sarton, Plant Dreaming Deep, 1968

Gardens… should be like lovely, well-shaped girls: all curves, secret corners, unexpected deviations, seductive surprises and then still more curves. – H.E. Bates, A Love of Flowers

I think the true gardener is a lover of his flowers, not a critic of them. I think the true gardener is the reverent servant of Nature, not her truculent, wife-beating master. I think the true gardener, the older he grows, should more and more develop a humble, grateful and uncertain spirit. – Reginald Farrer, In a Yorkshire Garden, 1909