Metaphors and their meanings

Metaphors

While I was looking through 

gardening books I came

 across some really interesting 

gardening metaphors. 

Here I wanted to look 

at some metaphors 

and what they mean?

While it's the dormant 

season in the garden, 

let's see how we can keep 

our brains active!

I was searching for month 

by month seasonal 

poetry and came across some

of these metaphors I would

 like to share with you.

 

Let's start with the first one I found. 

"Putting down roots"

I feel it is such a firm and 

stable metaphor in the 

world of gardens and plants. 

It can mean so many 

different things to each 

of us. 

Perhaps I see it as 

digging a small vegetable 

patchwith nutritious soil 

and carefully opening

 a packet of tiny seeds 

and placing them in a 

small prepared

 area to set root.

What about you? 

What does "putting down roots" 
mean to you?

Please share with me your thoughts.



Next metaphor I really liked is 
"As the twig is bent."

This quote makes me think 

how meaningful 
trees are to us in a garden. 



Why can we bend a twig and 

make it into something else,

 
like a place to mark some bulbs 

for the months ahead? 



How we can take some 

bamboo stakes 
and bend them into an 
arched piece to grow 

a plant up to enjoy.




Or some willow branches 

which are so
flexible and can be 
bent and shaped into basket

 ware or even hedging. 





Next I found this lovely quote,

"She was a rose among thorns"

I do feel this is refering to 

a difficult gardener 
who was beautiful but stubborn 
in her ways.

She wanted things her own way, 

and why not if she was the gardener. 

Or simply refering to a truly 
beautiful rose with the 

most exotic perfume which was 
growing in nature and the plants 

around 'her' were insignificant

 beside this rose. 

Where do you think this 

metaphor originates?

I feel metahpors are very 

clever ways of using words 

for us to use and then it's 

really interesting 

to hear the origins of them.

Next metaphor I liked was 

'Cherry picking'

It's such a lovely metaphor as 

it feels like we all need to only 

select the best plant,

shurb, tree, or fruit tree. We want 

our gardens to be beautiful 

places and why not have 

the best we can.

"March brings breezes loud and shrill,

Stirs the dancing daffodils."

Sara Coleridge 

"I hear the sparrow's ditty

Anear my study door;

A simple song of gladnesss

That winter days are o'er;

My heart is singing with him,

I love him more and more....

Oh, Spring is surely coming,

Her couriers fill the air;

Each morn are new arrivals,

Each night her ways prepare;

I scent her garments,

Her foot is on the stair. 

John  Burroughs 

"A March Glee."

"In the spring, at the end 
of the day, you should
smell like dirt."

Margaret Atwood




"Where flowers bloom
so does hope."


Lady Bird Johnson



"And Spring arose on the
garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt
everywhere;
And each flower and 
herb on Earth's dark
breast
rose from the dreams of 
its wintry rest. 


Percy Bysshe Shelly