the enthusiasm of gardeners; we are all things ... the tree, the stream (9 March 2016)

Vita Sackville West

her gardens, writing and poetry

The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before.

- Vita Sackville West

We are all things, the flower and the tree;
We are the distant landscape and the near.
We are the drought, we are the dew distilled;
The saturated land, the land athirst;
We are the day, the night, the light, the dark;
The waterdrop, the stream; the meadow and the lark.

- Vita Sackville West

All things – driftwood sculpture by Liz Mathews, text by Vita Sackville-West (source)

From the archive: Vita Sackville-West on her grey, green and white garden (The Guardian)