Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Better Than a Bouquet



Remember that children, marriages and flower gardens
reflect the kind of care they get.
H. Jackson Brown Jr. 

I love gardens. I just don't like gardening. 

On Mother's Day, Randy treated me to a trip to Botanica in Wichita. It was free admission for all mothers and only $5 for everyone else. So we rubbed elbows with a lot of mothers and their minions that day. 
Never Too Big, a bronze by Jane DeDecker at Botanica, Wichita, KS, Dedicated Mother's Day 1995
It was better than a bouquet. 

So, today, I'm sharing the bouquet with some of my favorite photos from the day and some quotes to go with them.  And while you read, I'm off to the annual Kansas West Conference of the United Methodist Church at the state fairgrounds in Hutchinson. Wishing you a day filled with unexpected, beautiful surprises!

Plants cry their gratitude for the sun in green joy.  
~Terri Guillemets

'Tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes!

~William Wordsworth, "Lines Written in Early Spring" 

Can you find the ladybug? (Click on the image to make it bigger and then look in the upper left quadrant of the flower.)


It is a golden maxim to cultivate the garden for the nose, 
and the eyes will take care of themselves. 
 ~Robert Louis Stevenson

I've always regarded nature as the clothing of God. 
 ~Alan Hovhaness

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, 
through which God speaks to us every hour,
 if we will only tune in. 
 ~George Washington Carver

To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers
is a delectable form of defeat. 
 ~Beverly Nichols

Flowers don't worry about how they're going to bloom.  
They just open up and turn toward the light
 and that makes them beautiful. 
 ~Jim Carrey

Earth laughs in flowers. 
 ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


6 comments:

  1. Kim,
    You hit the nail on the head with "I love gardens. I just don't like gardening." I get along good with house plants, not so much with outside plants.

    I enjoyed today's flower pictures.

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    1. Thanks Robyn! I always think my "farm wife halo" is tarnished a bit when I admit I don't like to garden.

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  2. Sarah and I toured Botanica a few weeks ago for our wedding anniversary. Very beautiful place and you have captured it nicely.

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    1. We were there in April last year when the tulips were in full bloom. It's interesting to see the flowers featured at different times of the year. Was the new children's garden open at that time? It's a nice addition. Thanks for taking time to comment, Brad.

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  3. Beautiful pictures - the first one is my fav. I love simple flowers and the windmill in the back is awesome!

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    1. Thanks Jent. That photo was taken in a new section of Botanica - the children's garden. I loved it because it had a Kansas farmyard feel - complete with windmill pump handle for the kids to fill watering cans and a farmhouse playhouse.

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