a green thought in a green shade... quickly turning to gold

Even as Daylight Savings Time draws to a close,  I ponder these words about the garden:

"Meanwhile the mind, from pleasure less,
Withdraws into its happiness;
The mind, that ocean where each kind
Does straight its own resemblance find;
Yet it creates, transcending these,
Far other worlds, and other seas;
Annihilating all that's made
To a green thought in a green glade ...
Such was that happy garden-state, ..."

-  Andrew Marvell, The Garden

"Why do plants have such a positive impact on us?
There are a number of reasons, including:
They have a predictable cycle of life that provides comfort in our time of rapid change.
They are responsive but non-threatening.
They form no opinions or judgments about their caregivers.
They soften our man-made environment.
They enable us to change or improve our environment.
They promote relaxation and tranquility."

-  Gardening - Therapy for Mind, Body and Soul, Proxima Health System, Atlanta

 "People are turning to their gardens not to consume but to actively create, not to escape from reality but to observe it closely.  In doing this they experience the connectedness of creation and the profoundest sources of being.  That the world we live in and the activity of making it are one seamless whole is something that we may occasionally glimpse.  In the garden, we know."

-  Carol Williams, Bringing a Garden to Life, 1998