Instead of commemorating Jane Austen’s death at 41 on July 18, 1817, I would like to celebrate her life with a book giveaway of In the Garden With Jane Austen by Kim Wilson. It is a slim hard-back book filled with color photographs. In it Kim discusses the gardens that Jane Austen would have known and visited.
This contest will end on July 18th at midnight, EST. The winner will be chosen by random number generator.
To leave a comment, please let me know which flower you would leave behind at her grave. Update because of a confusion: A comment enters you into the contest. CONTEST CLOSED: Congratulations Eileen Landau! Your comment about a tussie-mussie was chosen by Random.org
I would leave lilies-of-the-valley – sweet, pretty and modest.
I would leave carnations because of their long lasting, enduring
quality like her stories.
On Jane’s grave I would like to leave cream herbal rose for it speaks for all Janes qualities of her art as a writer: beauty of her stories and characters, quality of her quotes, and enduring usage of Janes advices to women all over the world. If I met Jane in real life I would wish to hug her and thank her for inspiring my life xxx
Well, someone already left these, but I would chose the lily of the valley. Not only for their beauty, but because they symbolize a return of happiness. I get such pleasure from reading Ms. Austen’s novels.
I would leave daisy’s. One of they things they symbolize is loyal love and simplicity.
I would prefer to leave a small nosegay with lilies of the valley, mint, and a rose or two. The fragrance is delicious and fresh, and the rose symbolizes love-all appropriate!
I would definitely leave white and yellow roses for Jane presenting all the friendships she made while she was alive and beyond.
Perhaps some futuristic medicinal flowers, that can bring Jane Austen back in life.
Chemical Fusion
An anemone symbolizes love that is diminishing and waning hopes. I’m sure Jane realized she would not have a long life and there were many more things she would like to have accomplished.
Forget – me – nots are my flowers of choice, interspersed with the humble buttercup. A simple but colorful remembrance.
I would leave her a Camelia which symbolizes gratitude. This would thank her for the wonders she has given to all of us in writings.
I would leave a small bouquet of forget-me-nots, buttercups ad lily-of-the-valley. Something I could see Jane having picked and carried to her room often herself for comfort and inspiration.
I would leave Jane some of my favorite flowers, hydrangeas. I think she would have loved them.
I would leave Jane a garden of colorful flowers for her to sit and glance at the vibrant colors and inhale the fragrances. She would appreciate the beauty of nature!
Roses always make me think of english gardens and Jane, so I would leave a bouquet of those.
A very moving idea! I went to Winchester Cathedral and was very emotional. I don’t know too much about flowers but like the idea of the yellow and white roses.
I, too, would leave some white roses. I really like white roses and think they would be very appropriate. :-)
I would leave at least a dozen yellow roses, for friendship.
I would leave some peonies. They are so beautiful and delicate.
I would leave white lillies; they bespeak elegance and innocence.
Primrose ~ sweet and unassuming!
I would leave some white and pink roses, which are my favourite.
I would leave a little nosegay of pansies.
I would leave my favorite – lilacs. Their fragrance reminds me of the awakening of spring.
I’d probably leave Paper Daisies or what we like to call Everlasting flowers here in the Philippines. As the name suggests these flowers have really long lives, much like how Jane is, because her story lives on through her literary masterpieces.
I would leave columbine, which are elegant and precious.
Me thinks a tussie-mussie would be most appropriate.
I think any flower would do, however I would pick red roses for the love that she had for her family and other people.
I would leave forget me nots.
Becky
Jane Austen has given me so much happiness over the years–it is lovely to think of a gift of flowers to show my affection. Since others have suggested lilies of the valley, roses and peonies, I am going to choose a big bunch of pale yellow stock since I find the fragrance absolutely wonderful.
Thank you for your terrific blog!!
I too thought of leaving forget-me-nots. I have been reading from the Cambridge Guide to Jane Austen and she definitely did want to be known and appreciated for her writing.
I would leave her a garden rose.
I would leave a little nosegay of rosemary (remembrance), amethyst flowers (admiration) and mini purple calla lilies (beauty). Jane Austen is my favorite author and after learning more about her life, my admiration of her beautiful stories has grown. I wish she were alive today to see how far reaching her popularity is and how her words have touched people all over the world.
I would hope to leave a crocus tommasinianus, lovely butter-cupped bowl of satiny purple, centered with a bright and hopeful yellow-orange burst in its center… they grow them to this day at Chawton Cottage, and I would hope their popping up to dazzle had brought smiling breath to Jane throughout moments of her last Spring…
I was also thinking along the lines of forget me nots and rosemary (for remembrance) as an indicator of the lasting enjoyment of her work and to demonstrate that she has not been forgotten.
I agree with the choice of Camellia -which denotes appreciation. As one who only discovered her work with the movie “Becoming Jane” several years ago, I cannot TELL you the number of hours of pleasure and escape her stories have brought to my life. She has become my personal research project- I love to read all I can about her life and works. So wish I could spend an afternoon in the garden with her, drinking tea!
Hibiscus in South Korea means “immortality”. Jane Austen’s words live on forever. :-)
I would leave purple variegated bearded irises–my favorites and I think Jane would also love them
wow wouldn’t it be amazing to sit in the garden on the cover sipping tea with jane hersel! If the garden had my favorite peonies growing in it would be heavenly!
Lilies of the Valley tucked around pale pink David Austin roses would be a pretty addition to her memorial. I would love to stand and pay my respects to the gentle soul that continues to make our world a more refined and romantic place.
A single rose. We know from Jane’s letters that she could poke sarcastic fun to the point of scathing insensitivity, but under it all was a heart and intellect that has shared some of the truest and most enduring stories of wit, love, and compassion in the english language. A blooming rose, beautiful, bold, and delicate despite its thorns, would be fitting.
I would leave her an orchid, but in a pot, and I hope someone would take care of it. Does the book have Austen quotes? Then it would be perfect. Either way, please enter me in the drawing.
I would leave a nosegay of lovely wild violets. My grandmother loved them, and she and Jane Austen remind me of each other.
Zinnias, which grow in my garden, because of their cheerful colors. And, they last a long time after they are cut
I am taken with lilies of the valley for their simple beauty and lovely fragrance, but I love all of the above reasons for other people’s choices. I, too, visited her grave at Winchester Cathedral, last year, and tears sprang to my eyes almost immediately. Thanking God for His gifts in my life is a natural part of my everyday life and my first thoughts were to thank Him for her gifts and how He uses her to bless me everyday when I read her or think on her works.
Thank you for the giveaway, I would leave Sweet William……they are my favourite.
On Jane’s grave I would place the blooms she loved so much and planted in their own garden in Southampton, “for the sake of Cowper’s line”: syringa and lauburnum.
I would leave lilies of the valley, roses, or daises. One delicate, one beautiful, and one modest.
I would leave a garland of sampaguita – simple, sweet and pure.
Sunflower for the amounts of cheer and happiness she has brought to all our lives.
Does this post enter me into the book give-away? If not, how do I enter?
I agree Val! I am confused as to the rules of entry too. Great posts here, but who’s to say how many times responders are entering, with no posted guidelines…
You may enter as many times as you would like, Susie, but most people, as far as I can tell, are entering only one comment.
Yes, this post enters you, as only comments are needed to enter. The winner is drawn by random number generator.
A gardenia. It’s scent lingers like no other flower.
I would have to leave two flowers: one would be a flower that might have been meaningful for Jane, and this book might help me determine that; the other would be meaningful for me: I would want something apparently common, but with an overwhelming delicate beauty that takes your breath away, and a complexity one would appreciate even more deeply when viewed close up! Problem is, I’m still debating on what flower that might be… No worries, I’ll decide before I get there!
I would like several others leave lilies of the valley. I love the smell and the delicacy.
I would like to leave her a bouquet of flowers from her garden, one of everything that she planted and loved to grow. I would also tuck in a thank you note for bringing my life such joy from her writings.
This looks like a cool book! Would love to have it!
I’m going with Lupines, symbolizing imagination – both hers and what she’s done for mine. I like the wild nature of them.
I would leave a gardenia because the scent is divine.
I would leave Lavender Heather for my admiration and yellow Zinnia for remembering such an awesome woman and writer.
I would leave a segment of a lilac bush! simple sweet and full of love
I would leave Pansies for remembrance, in the language of love, Water Lilies for eloquence and Canterbury Bells for Gratitude. For I am grateful for her eloquence in writing of her society and will remember always the wonderful hours spent reading her books.
I would leave two… a yellow rose for the ‘friend’ she has been through her books and and white daisies because they are just simply beautiful, like her!
I would leave her a peach colored rose bouquet.
I would leave her a small peach colored bouquet.
I’d leave her a small peach coloured rose bouquet.
I would leave a sprig of rosemary for remembrance
I know a lot of people consider them weeds, but I love the smell of honeysuckle. I would try to put together a nosegay of honeysuckle and lavender, two of my favorite scented flowers.
Delicately scented pink and red roses around her resting place would be a delight for Jane Austen’s spirit to revisit, as well as for her many admirers to enjoy.
I would leave red roses which represent sincere Love, Respect, Courage & Passion, since Jane Austen wrote about all these things and inspired many through her novels, and also because she herself never married.
I have left some rather large tulips (at least I think they are) in her garden at Steventon.
http://www.amandawhite-contemporarynaiveart.com/index.aspx
The coincidence of the book and my finishing this picture so recently was too tempting to resist!
But for her grave ! would leave a single white old-fashioned garden rose.
I would leave sweet william on her grave as a token of her love of the countryside and its flowers.
I would leave her a small bouquet of hand-picked meadow flowers
An evening primrose :)…just because it’s simple and beautiful :)
I would leave a segment of a lilac bush! simple sweet and full of love
I would leave Lavender because I love the smell.
I would leave a bunch of violets as I think Jane would also love them.
I would leave daisies–a simple and happy flower.
I would leave purple lilac – one of her favourites, and one that is a symbol of love, a subject that she wrote much about. She and I have much in common in that we both like lilacs and both had/have Addison’s.
I would leave white roses on her grave. I just love roses.
Jane Austen mentions hyacinths in Northanger Abbey, so this is the flower I would leave. If she had been buried in a churchyard instead of Westminister Abbey, I would have planted some bulbs so that they would come up every year. Rosalind
I would leave purple daisies for they are beautiful and simple and bring joy just as Jane Austen did.
I would like to leave foxgloves.
I would leave daffodils.
I would leave lilacs/syringa, one of Austen’s favorites, and gardenias, one of mine.
I would leave some forget-me-nots. Because forgetting Jane Austen is what we shouldn’t.
Besides, the colour is very pretty.
I would leave baby’s breathe. They are simple and though they are sometimes unnoticed, this type of flower is beautiful when it has a chance to be noticed.
A gardenia.
Ann
cozyintexas@yahoo.com
I would leave peace lilies because they are beautiful and represent love, compassion and peace to a grieving family!
I would leave for her a peony…full of beauty like her books.
I would leave a bouquet of irises, my favorite flowers. They’re elegant and classy, just like a Regency lady.
I would leave a nosegay of violets with some aromatic herbs. It’s simple and beautiful and smells divine.
Since Jane Austen books are my favorite books, I would leave a morning glory, my favorite flower.
I would leave a big bunch of wild flowers, as Maryann Dashwood said she much preferred these to hot house flowers!
I would leave some of my favorite flowers pansies; they’re simple and sweet but beautiful.
I would like to leave sprigs of light blue hydrangeas!
I would place some of the wild orchids which now grow in abundance in her native Hampshire but which would have been a very rare and exciting new species in her day.
I would leave a bouquet of sweetpeas. They signify goodbye or a departure. To me the flowers are cheerful and youthful.
I would leave a bouquet of English Lavender….
Lilacs…definitely lilacs.
English Lavender–everytime I see or smell the fragrance, I think of her and Elizabeth. I wonder why she chose that fragrance for my favorite character.
a sprig of myrtle, perchance it might take root and remind all of everlasting…..affection and thus love
A posy of wild meadow flowers would be my choice as Jane spent many hours walking through fields and meadows. Fragile poppies, lupins, wild honeysuckle, yarrow, columbines and fragrant chamomile and lavender would make a perfect little posy to please the eye and restore the spirits.
Thank you so much for this wonderful giveaway. I would love the opportunity to win this beautiful and inspiring book.
Angela
http://www.john.sweby@btinternet.com
A small nosegay of sweet peas: they are so tender and lovely
I would leave forget-me-nots, appropriate for her longevity.
I would leave violets. They do not grow tall, they don’t dominate. Yet they are so vividly coloured and scented they improve every garden and boquet.
So many good choices! I saw several of my favorites listed, lily of the valley, roses, daisies. I am growing hollyhocks and black-eyed susans this year, and would probably want to put together a mixed bouquet of all of these, along with lavender.
I think I’d leave chrysanthemums, because “Persuasion” (my favorite) is so steeped in autumn imagery.
I would leave her a bouquet of blue hydrangeas — their delicate and soft look and unique color are a perfect fit for our lovely and unique Miss Austen.
Lillies.. most defnitely… with love
Vidya
What could be more appropriate than a bouquet of forget-me-nots?
[…] Ms. Place’s Jane Austen’s World Blog: Jane Austen’s Final Hours; On the Anniversary of Jane Austen’s Death; and Jane Austen’s Last Days to include a selection of letters; and a post by Tony Grant, Events in College Street, July 18, 1817; this year, Vic offers a book giveaway in celebration of Austen’s life: https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/celebrating-jane-austens-life-with-a-book-giveaway-… […]
I would leave some sunflowers because I think she should be remembered with sunshine and joy.
[…] Vic at Jane Austen’s World remembers Jane Austen’s life with a book giveaway of In the Garden with Jane Austen. […]
I would leave a bouquet of myrtle, ivy, lily of the valley, sweet William and hyacinth. That is what Kate Middleton carried at her recent wedding and they are related. The lily of the valley represents the return of happiness; sweet William means gallantry; hyacinth is for the constancy of love. Both ivy and myrtle represent both love and marriage. In fact, myrtle is the emblem of marriage.
I would leave an orchid. They are beautiful as a single flower; you don’t see them in bouquets. You never need more than one to appreciate its beauty. Just as Jane was beautiful being single (had she gotten married she may have been lost in the “bouquet of marriage”), we are able to appreciate her as a person.
Queen Anne’s Lace
Bluebells carpet the most ancient forests of England and are as much a part of Her heritage as Her greatest authors. As a symbol of the great contribution to the English literary world and beyond, I would gift the Authoress with bluebells.
A bouquet of violets would be lovely. They are suitable for carrying or making a wreath for the hair. Picture Jane Bennet in Pride & Prejudice or Catherine Morland in Northanger Abby enjoying them in equal measure.
I would leave a boxwood rose. Simple, romantic, each colour symbolizes a certain degree of reltionship. They’re a classic, just like Miss Austen herself.
I would leave lavender and roses. I imagine Elizabeth and Jane Bennet drying them to make scents.