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29 Great Gardening Quotes

Whether you’re an amateur or you’ve been gardening for years, there’s no doubt that there’s plenty of wisdom that can be found in the garden. Therefore, it’s no surprise that gardens have been the source of many great quotes about life and love. There are gardening quotes from famous gardeners, from well-known public figures, and some that have unknown origins. But one thing they all have in common – they inspire us, and they motivate us.

Great gardening quotes

I’ve taken some time to compile some of my favorite gardening quotes to share with you today. From funny to romantic, these gardening quotes may help you feel inspired the next time you’re in the garden!

Also, if you love puns, here are 54 funny flower puns.

Gardening Quotes Every Gardener Will Enjoy

Funny gardening quotes

You should never take yourself too seriously when gardening. That’s a surefire way to ruin a fun and relaxing activity. For many, gardening is about stress relief.

Gardens can be a great place to bring out your humorous, playful side. The next time you find yourself making up a joke in the garden, consider writing it down. In the meantime, check out these funny gardening quotes!

“Gardening requires lots of water – most of it in the form of perspiration.” ~ Lou Erickson

“I have no plants in my house. They won’t live for me. Some of them don’t even wait to die, they commit suicide.” ~ Jerry Seinfeld

“Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.” ~ Unknown

Flower gardening quotes

Who doesn’t love some great flowers? There’s a lot of beauty to be found in flowers. If you’ve been working on a flower garden, you’ll appreciate these flower gardening quotes!

You might also like these wildflower quotes

“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine for the soul.”  ~ Luther Burbank

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” ~ William Shakespeare

Won't you come into the garden? I would like my roses to see you.

“Won’t you come into the garden? I would like my roses to see you.”  ~ Richard Brinsley Sheridan

“It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses we must plant more trees.” ~ George Eliot

Earth laughs in flowers.

“Earth laughs in flowers.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Flowers are like friends; They bring color to your world.” ~ Unknown

“Flowers are the music of the ground. From earth’s lips spoken without sound.” ~ Edwin Curran

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

One famous artist even credits the beauty of flowers for their work!

“I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.” ~ Claude Monet

Speaking of art, flowers are always being compared to art, and for good reason! Check out this flower garden quote:

“Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as a canvass.” ~ Elizabeth Murray

Sustainable gardening quotes

There are many different types of gardeners out there. Some enjoy sustainable gardening. If you have an interest in sustainable gardening, you might appreciate these quotes:

There are never gardening mistakes, only experiments.

“There are never gardening mistakes, only experiments.” ~ Unknown

“The first rule of sustainability is to align with natural forces, or at least not try to defy them.” ~ Paul Hawken

“As is the garden such is the gardener. A man’s nature runs either to herbs or weeds.” ~ Francis Bacon

“A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them.” ~  Liberty Hyde Bailey

Inspirational gardening quotes

Since a garden is where plants grow, it’s no surprise that there are plenty of great inspirational gardening quotes. You may find your motivation to grow alongside these great inspirational gardening quotes.

If you’re looking for one more reason to work on self-growth, keep these quotes in mind:

Garden quote: To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow by Audrey Hepburn

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” ~ Audrey Hepburn

When the flower blooms, the bees come uninvited

“When the flower blooms, the bees come uninvited” ~ Ramakrishna

“Bloom where you are planted.” ~ Unknown

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

“A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself.” ~ May Sarton

“A garden should make you feel you’ve entered privileged space — a place not just set apart but reverberant — and it seems to me that, to achieve this, the gardener must put some kind of twist on the existing landscape, turn its prose into something nearer poetry.” Michael Pollan, Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education

And for those who are constantly comparing themselves to others, remember this one:

“A rose can never be a sunflower, and a sunflower can never be a rose. All flowers are beautiful in their own way, and that’s like women too.” ~ Miranda Kerr

And here’s another great one!

“A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.” ~ Dogen

Literary gardening quotes

Since gardens have been around for hundreds of years, it’s no surprise that they have been the inspiration of many famous literary works. After all, it was once said:

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

Some have even compared the wonder of books to that of a garden:

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

“A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.” ~ Chinese proverb.

Let’s take a look at some of the most famous literary garden quotes!

“A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in–what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.” ~ Victor Hugo, Les Miserables  

“Gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful!’ and sitting in the shade.” ~ Rudyard Kipling, Complete Verse

No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, no culture comparable to that of the garden.

“No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, no culture comparable to that of the garden.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

Romantic gardening quotes

Like gardens, love needs a little extra nurturing. So, it’s no surprise that there are a number of great garden love quotes. 

“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.”~ Oscar Wilde

If you’re feeling impatient in your relationship, just think about how long it takes to grow a plant. This quote’s for you:

“Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.” ~ John Lennon

Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.

Organic gardening quotes

If you’ve been working on transitioning to all things natural, you might love these organic gardening quotes.

The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies

“The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies.” ~ Gertrude Jekyll  

“Garden as though you will live forever.” ~ William Kent

Who knows? With all of the organic food you’re about to eat, maybe you will! Wink.

Secret garden quotes

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is, perhaps, one of the most well-known literary works of fiction out there. So, of course, we had to throw in some Secret Garden quotes for you!

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”

“Two things cannot be in one place. Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow.” 

Two things cannot be in one place. Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow.

Humorous gardening quotes

Finally, we’ll leave you with some more humorous gardening quotes! After all, we can all use a little humor in our lives… can’t we?

Keep this one in mind the next time you’re putting on your gardening gear:

“Don’t wear perfume in the garden – unless you want to be pollinated by bees.” ~ Anne Raver

And here are a few more we think you’ll enjoy: 

“Anyone who has time for drama is not gardening enough.” ~ Unknown

Money can’t buy happiness. Except at the garden center.

“Money can’t buy happiness. Except at the garden center.” ~ Unknown

“When life hands you shit, grow a garden.” ~ Unknown

More garden quotes

“I like gardening – it’s a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself.”  ~ Alice Sebold

“Why try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden.” ~Robert Breault

“Gardening is not a rational act.” ~ Margaret Atwood

“Gardening is how I relax. It’s another form of creating and playing with colors.” ~ Oscar de la Renta

“Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.” ~ Sigmund Freud

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” ~ Marcel Proust

“To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

“Look deep into nature, and you will understand everything better.” ~ Albert Einstein

“But for one’s health, as you say, it is very necessary to work in the garden and see the flowers growing.” ~ Vincent Van Gogh

“The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for Him there.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

These are just a few of the many great gardening quotes out there. May these gardening quotes find you well and help inspire you during your gardening journey!

Did you see your favorite gardening quote on the list? Is there one you’d add? Let us know in the comments.

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Adriana Copaceanu is a passionate nature lover living in the country on her dream property where she grows vegetables, lavender, and wildflowers that she shares with the wildlife they attract. When she's not in the garden, she loves spending time with her chickens and planning her next nature project. Check out her books below:

How to Grow Lavender for Fun and Profit: Lessons Learned from Planting Three Hundred Lavender Plants

How to Raise Chickens for Eggs: A Guide to Raising Happy, Healthy Chickens for Nutritious, Organic Eggs at Home

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