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The wisdom of Stephen Fry

11 years ago

Last night on Top Gear, Stephen Fry (aka Jeeves on Bertie Wooster) said something that resonated with me.

He said he was often asked if he wouldn't rather live in the past. His answer was a simple "No" because living now he has the opportunity to imagin himself in the past at a time of his choosing, but were he to have lived in Victorian times, he could not have imagined the present.

I extrapolated that to gardening. I wish I had gardened back before the diseases caught up to the plant imports. When there was great excitement because roses were found that rebloomed. When fragrance mattered a lot. When the exchange of plants wasn't commerce driven. When we could love all plants for what they gave us and not worry about someone muttering about high pointed centers and petal substance.

Give me the time of Tomas Rivers and Robert Buist and when the Southern Ladies Florist was a ground breaking addition to a library and exciting to read.

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Comments (4)

rosefolly
11 years ago
"Modern" has never seemed to me to be the compliment many people think it is.

I love many elements of the past, but would never want to live there under any conditions I can imagine even if I had a time machine at my disposal. No antibiotics, no immunizations, no anesthesia for surgery, no women's rights, no modern sanitation, and education only for the privileged class. As for fussing about flower trends, I'm sure the people of a couple of hundred years ago had their own style obsessions. Just think about the tulip craze in The Netherlands in the 17th century.

But with all this, I do love the aesthetic of the past. My favorite period would be the Arts and Crafts Era and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, themselves romantically recalling the Medieval period as a lost Golden Age when individual craftsmanship was admired. And of course, I love the heirloom plants of all sorts, roses especially, but many others as well.
catsrose
11 years ago
As a woman, the past has little appeal--it was too difficult in too many ways. But as a man, I would have loved to have been part of Alexander the Great's campaign. A. sent specimens of plants and animals back to Aristotle on a regular basis. Being an explorer would have been good, seeking out ew lands, discovering ew flora and fauna...
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I just found the FL forum, I have been posting in the Tomato forum the whole time! lol. Steve, I am very close to you as well, right off 1-75 and Fletcher(USF exit), next exit down from David. I live on a cattle farm, and am only a 3rd year gardener, so I have much to learn as well. I am currently limiting myself to tomatoes and peppers, I love salsa and hot foods. I tried lettuce/broccoli/carrots/radishes, but the lettuce and broccoli didnt do too good. I have some pepper plants that are a couple years old now, I just cover them durring frost. This winter I am going to try using water jugs durring frost. The big Zepherhills water jugs, just cut off the bottom and put it over the plant. Its like a mini greenhouse. I start pepper seeds in November for a March 1st plant out. I currently have 3 bhut jolokia(ghost chili/current world record holder) seedlings going. And should have some more cool varieties from the tomato/pepper exchange. For tomatoes I try to follow the 2-season approach. I start seeds January 1st, plant out March 1st. Then I start seeds July 1st, plant out Sept 1st. I might try to get some shade cloth and try to get them through the summer next year. -Corey
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mendocino_rose
11 years ago
My heart lives in the aesthetic that Rosefolly describes but I don't need to live in those times. I can create my own little world here as I like it. In all times there were disagreements and different ways of looking at the world.
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
11 years ago
If it weren't for the rapidly looming global warming crisis I would without a doubt choose to live today. The loss of the polar ice cap and polar bears and many other animals grieves me deeply, and at this point it is certain this will happen. Conditions in the past, on the other hand, were incredibly harsh and that would certainly not be my choice, but the gardens of the past are another story. Fortunately we can in large part recreate them if we so choose, and many on the antique rose forum have chosen to do so.

Ingrid

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