Give Now  »

Noon Edition

Glory of the Garden

By Moya Andrews

Posted February 6, 2025

Read Transcript
Hide Transcript

Transcript

Our England is a garden full of stately views,
Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues
With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by
But the glory of the garden lies in more than meets the eye.
And there you see the gardeners, the men and prentice boys,
Told to do as they are told and do it without noise:
For, except when seeds are planted and we shout to scare the birds,
The Glory of the Garden, it abideth not in words.
And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose,
And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows:
But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam,
For the Glory of the garden occupieth all who come.
There's not a pair of legs so thin, there's not a head so thick,
There's not a hand so weak or white nor yet a heart so sick
But it can find some needful job, crying to be done,
For the Glory of the garden glorifieth everyone.
Oh, Adam was a gardener and God who made him sees,
That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees,
So, when your work is finished you can wash your hands and pray
For the Glory of the garden, that it may not pass away!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

This is Moya Andrews, and today we focused on the “Glory of the Garden.”

Romanticized cottage garden scene

(AdobeStock)

Our England is a garden full of stately views,
Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues
With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by
But the glory of the garden lies in more than meets the eye.
And there you see the gardeners, the men and prentice boys,
Told to do as they are told and do it without noise:
For, except when seeds are planted and we shout to scare the birds,
The Glory of the Garden, it abideth not in words.
And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose,
And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows:
But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam,
For the Glory of the garden occupieth all who come.
There's not a pair of legs so thin, there's not a head so thick,
There's not a hand so weak or white nor yet a heart so sick
But it can find some needful job, crying to be done,
For the Glory of the garden glorifieth everyone.
Oh, Adam was a gardener and God who made him sees,
That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees,
So, when your work is finished you can wash your hands and pray
For the Glory of the garden, that it may not pass away!

- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Facebook Twitter
Support For Indiana Public Media Comes From

About Focus on Flowers

Focus on Flowers is a weekly podcast and public radio program about flower gardening hosted by master gardener Moya Andews. Learn More »

moya Andrews headshot

Moya Andrews is a Master Gardener and a member of the Bloomington Garden Club in Bloomington, Indiana. Learn more »