• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Shop
    • Gardening Humor
    • Children’s Books
    • New – The Halloween Hare
  • Speaking
    • Upcoming Speaking Engagements
  • Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
  • Gardening Humor
  • Children’s
  • All Books

May Dreams Gardens

Reading “Tell About Night Flowers”

August 22, 2013 By Carol Michel 9 Comments

Hydrangeas are everywhere in Quebec City

Did you miss me?

I returned to my garden late yesterday afternoon after being away for almost a week at the Garden Writers Association symposium in Quebec City.

I brought back with me hundreds of photos of gardens and plants. Would you like to see them all?

I’m sure you would. Well, all in due time. Patience.  I’m sure that my photos from the many public and private gardens we visited will make their way to my blog eventually. Or perhaps they’ll show up in a presentation?

While in Quebec City, I started to read another book, Tell About Night Flowers:  Eudora Welty’s Gardening Letters 1940 – 1949 selected and edited by Julia Eichelberger (2013, University Press of Mississippi).

I love books of letters, so what could be better than a book of letters about gardening?   It turns out nothing could be better, at least for me at this time.

It seems like nearly every letter has some gem of wisdom or quotable quote. Two of my current favorites…

“I was born with the feeling that if time and hurry were forgotten, something quiet and wonderful would happen in their place.”  


Just think about that for a minute.  No hurry, take your time.  Let it soak in.


Another favorite…

“The
delphiniums I planted in my ignorance have all bloomed like everything
and are getting ready to bloom for the second time and Mother says the
ladies of the garden club come over each day to worship and grit their
teeth.”

I never had much luck growing delphiniums so I would be one of those who went to Welty’s garden to  both worship and grit my teeth. After all, isn’t that how we sometimes feel when we see a garden and love it. We fawn all over it  but at the same time we are gritting our teeth at the very idea that someone could make a garden so lovely, and why can’t I do that?  

I felt that way just a tiny bit about the gardens in Quebec City.

Mixed border at Domaine Joly-de Lotbiniere

Everything there seems to bloom at once. I would guess this is because the growing season in Zone 3b is primarily June 1 – October 1, so everything has to happen more or less at the same time.   Some of the borders made me worship and grit my teeth. Admiration and envy. 

This, of course, reminds me of another quote from Tell About Night Flowers. I can’t find it in the book, but Welty ended it by calling some spider lilies nitwits because when transplanted to a northern garden, they bloomed at the same time as those in her southern garden.  She felt they should have bloomed later, so called them nitwits for not figuring out they weren’t in the south anymore.   

I don’t normally write in books but I may start writing in this book so I can find the quotes again. Or maybe I’ll keep a big stack of note cards by my side when I read so I can jot down the page numbers and a few key words for my favorite quotes.

Tell About Night Flowers was the perfect book to read for the six days I was in Quebec City.  It allowed me to totally immerse myself in gardens, gardening, and garden writing.  Did I mention a couple of the selected letters mention one of my favorite garden writers, Elizabeth Lawrence?

Each day I would read a bit of the book as the sun rose over the St. Lawrence River.

Sunrise in Quebec City

Then I could carry those thoughts with me through beautiful gardens.

Each evening, I ended the day filling my head with more gardening letters from Welty.

Now that I’m home, I’m continuing to savor the letters in the quiet of the end of the day, with pencil in hand to mark the passages that I want to remember.

Tell About Night Flowers.  Five stars. It is like delphiniums to me.

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: books

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    August 22, 2013 at 12:24 pm

    I have ordered this book because of your love for it, Carol. I can't wait to fill my head with gardening thoughts, too.

    Frances

    Reply
  2. Gail says

    August 22, 2013 at 12:56 pm

    The mixed border is gorgeous! Oh to have that full sun expanse! Did you by chance notice the editors last name and mine are the same? xogail

    Reply
  3. Karin / Southern Meadows says

    August 22, 2013 at 1:40 pm

    I love the idea of using notecards to document favorite passages from books! I often use a highlighter pen to mark in the book. The sunrise over the river looks like a perfect way to start a day!

    Reply
  4. Layanee says

    August 22, 2013 at 1:45 pm

    What a sunrise. Love the quotes. Nitwits indeed!

    Reply
  5. Commonweeder says

    August 22, 2013 at 4:51 pm

    The Quebec Conference sounds wonderful and so does the book of Welty's letters. I have a book, One Writer's Garden: Eudora Welty's Home Place, by local (to me) author Jane Roy Brown about the renovation of Welty's garden. It is a beautiful book with tons of fascinating information that also plants the seed of visiting that garden someday, and imagining Eudora among the delphiniums.

    Reply
  6. Dee Nash says

    August 22, 2013 at 6:47 pm

    You've convinced I need it. I'm reading it. Wonderful book. Loving it. I'm gritting my teeth because I missed GWA this year and missed seeing you.~~Dee

    Reply
  7. Dee Nash says

    August 22, 2013 at 6:49 pm

    Oh, and Pat, now I bought the Eudora Welty book too. I just love how I can get these delivered to my iPad via Kindle. Love it! Thank you.~~Dee

    Reply
  8. Cindy, MCOK says

    August 22, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    A Northern gardener reading a Southern writer in a Canadian hotel … that makes me smile (and I'll bet it would make Eudora Welty smile too!)

    Reply
  9. Kathy says

    August 22, 2013 at 11:23 pm

    Lovely post, Carol. I love how you tied it all together at the end

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Categories

  • Blog (3,047)
  • Internal (2)

Blog Tags

annuals Blogging books bulbs dr. hortfreud embrace fairies fall family flowers fruits garden bloggers bloom day garden bloggers book club garden design gardeners gardening gardening geek gardens hoes holidays hortense hoelove houseplants humor indoor gardening insects lawn letters to gardening friends perennials rabbits reviews Secrets seeds shrubs spring tools trees vegetable garden vegetable gardening vegetables weather weeding weeds when a gardener wildflower wednesday winter

The Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Footer

Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • maydreams icon

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Books
  • May Dreams Gardens
  • Podcast

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Newsletter Archive

Copyright © 2023 · CarolJMichel.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy

Book purchase links are affiliate links and Carol earns a small commission if you make a purchase.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT