Want a Sense of Awe? See New England Flowers Paired With Uplifting Quotes

There’s something magical about watching gardens come to life every year around this time. Here in New England, flowers have a short and incredibly gorgeous blooming season.

The following are images I took while out for a walk in my town of Cohasset, MA, paired with quotes that I hope you find inspiring.

Have a look:

1.”That’s life: starting over, one breath at a time.” – Sharon Salzberg (classic New England flowering rosebush against an old stone wall)

The ethereal short-lived nature of roses reminds us that everything is continually starting over and starting new.

I love this image of a rose bush in front of a stone wall. It suggests that the roses are so alive against a permanent, stable background – always changing their shape and form.

2. “There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart.” – Celia Thaxter 

This image reminds me of the vast abundance all around us. Summer emanates abundance with its gardens in full bloom.

When we experience gratitude for the abundance surrounding us, we can feel summer in our hearts all year long.

3. “Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” – Henry James (a whimsical New England garden)

This takes me way back. I love this quote.

There are so many memories of idyllic summer afternoons, walking through a city or sitting next to a garden like this one pictured here.

Maybe it’s the absolute beauty of summer afternoons that takes us out of our busy minds and leaves us no choice but to sit in awe of the beauty that surrounds us.

4. “Seek out a tree and let it teach you stillness.” – Eckhart Tolle

I’m a big fan of Eckhart Tolle and have noticed that he often mentions trees during his talks on awareness and meditation. He says that trees are our teachers. Through them, we can learn to just be  – like the tree.

When trees bloom (like this one above – a New England flowering tree bursting with blooms) in late spring, it seems they’re almost putting on a show for us. They teach us that there is a season for everything, and we all have our moments to bloom forth. They are spectacular.

5. “You are so much sunshine in every square inch.” –  Walt Whitman (delicate New England flowering rosebud)

When roses bloom, they radiate sunshine in every square inch.  It’s like they’re posing for us, waiting for us to take notice. They continue to radiate beauty until they eventually change form, only to bloom again when the time is right.

We are so used to seeing them we forget how magnificent they are. They teach us to live in this moment, appreciating them exactly as they are today.

6. “We might think we are nurturing our garden, but of course it’s our garden that is really nurturing us.” – Jenny Uglow

I love this quote. The next time you pass by a garden, think for a moment that it’s there solely to nurture you. On some deep level, you may receive reassurance from the blooms. Maybe they’re here to remind us that all is well.

No matter what’s happening, we can count on them blooming every year.

There’s a comfort to be found in their predictable rhythms.

7. “In early June the world of leaf and blade and flowers explode, and every sunset is different.” – John Steinbeck (knock out roses – popular New England flowers)

Here in New England, flowers right now are exploding. It all seems to happen overnight. Yet, there is a magical timing that we can never predict.

Every flower, sunset, and summer day and night is different. We get to step back and take it all in.

Summer is here to delight us. We’ve made it through the darker, more inward seasons. Now we get to celebrate! We can learn so much from our gardens when we stop to notice.

I hope you’re able to stop and take notice today.

Do you live on the west coast? Be inspired by images from the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena.

Are you in the market for a new summer read? Take a look at recommended ideas here.