Flower Gardening

  • Bee friendly illustration

    Bee friendly illustration

    An illustration showing bees and bee-friendly flowers.

    The illustration is about the fact that bees are in decline and need encouraging and protecting.

    One of the best ways for individuals to encourage bees is to plant bee-friendly plants in their gardens.
    Drawn: July 2022
    Cartoon reference number: a953
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  • Book of gardening cartoons

    gardening cartoon book

    A Funny Year in the Garden
    Gardening cartoon book

    Versions of many of the gardening cartoons on this site can be found in my book, A Funny Year in the Garden.
    My gardening cartoons appeared for many years in the pages of the Irish Sunday Independent newspaper.

    The book contains about a hundred of my cartoons in black and white.
    The book is available through Amazon.
    Such as at:
    Amazon UK
    Amazon USA
  • Gardening cartoon – a man sowing flower seed and a cat sowing bird seed

    Garden cartoon - man sowing flower seed and cat sowing bird seed

    Gardening cartoon – a man sowing flower seed and a cat sowing bird seed

    The man is looking forward to flowers growing from the seeds he is sowing
    The cat is looking forward to seeing birds sprout from the seed it is sowing – as it’s sowing bird seed

    Cartoon reference number: a583

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
  • Gardening cartoon – hanging baskets from electricity pylons

    Gardening cartoon - hanging baskets from electricity pylons

    Garden design cartoon
    Hanging hanging baskets from electricity pylons

    Disguising an eye sore in the garden by planting

    An illustration of a person turning a disadvantage into an advantage by using a bit of creativity
    Cartoon reference number: a577

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
  • Gardening cartoon – flower appreciation guide book

    flower appreciation guide book - cartoon

    Gardening cartoon – flower appreciation guide book

    Cartoon showing a gardener looking in a book to see how different types of flower should be appreciated
    The cartoon is about conventions of taste and aesthetic judgements as much as it’s about gardening

    A cartoon about aesthetics, taste, beauty, design, cultural convention, artistic taste.
    Cartoon reference number: a518

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
  • Pareidolia image – a flower that looks like a human face

    orchid flower as a man's head

    Pareidolia – an orchid flower as a man’s head

    A photograph of an orchid flower that looks like a human head

    An illustration or artwork about pareidolia – illusion of seeing faces where they don’t exist.
    More pareidolia images here: Pareidolia 1 and Pareidolia 2

    Cartoon reference number: a420

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
  • Seeing the face of God in a flower – cartoon

    Face of God in flower - cartoon

    See the face of God in a flower – cartoon

    A cartoon showing a Sunday school teacher telling her pupils that you can see the face of God when you look at a flower.

    One of the children is imagining the face of a pansy as the face of God.
    Pansies do have faces after all.
    Seeing faces in things is known as pareidolia.
    Cartoon reference number: a396

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Garden plant protection cartoon

    umbrellas as plant protectors cartoon

    Gardening cartoon – a novel way to protect plants from bad weather conditions

    Cartoon showing small umbrellas as a novelty form of plant protector in the garden

    The advantage of these mini umbrellas is that because they are vivid colours they bring a welcome splash of colour to the garden during dull weather.
    Cartoon reference number: a297

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Flower gardening cartoon – the joy of small flowers

    garden flower under microscope - cartoon

    Garden cartoon – how to appreciate small flowers

    Cartoon showing a microscope being used to admire tiny flowers in a garden

    A cartoon about microscopy, studying flowers, size isn’t everything, beauty in small things.

    Cartoon reference number: a295

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Summer gardening cartoon – gardening in dull weather, compensating for lack of sunshine

    sun lamp for summer sun - cartoon

    Garden cartoon – how to provide sunshine in overcast weather

    Cartoon showing a gardener setting up a sun lamp to provide artificial sunshine to his garden plants

    This cartoon was drawn during a prolonged period of very overcast summer weather, when the sun didn’t shine for a long period of time.

    A cartoon about gardening equipment, flower gardening, encouraging plants, gardening in shady gardens, sun-loving plants.

    Cartoon reference number: a293

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Garden flowers cartoon – looking at a snowdrop using a mirror

    looking at a snowdrop using a mirror - cartoon

    Spring garden flower cartoon – snowdrops in the garden

    Cartoon showing a man in his garden studying snowdrops by looking at them from below by using a mirror on a stick

    A cartoon about spring gardening, early spring garden flowers, flower appreciation, how to study snowdrops.

    Cartoon reference number: a282

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Hanging basket in front of front door – gardening cartoons

    hanging basket in front of front door - cartoon

    Hanging basket cartoon – gardening cartoon

    Cartoon showing a hanging basket hanging in front of a door

    The joke is that the hanging basket is too low and is blocking the doorway, but the man can’t quite work out what’s wrong

    As well as being a straightforward cartoon about garden design and the pitfalls of garden design, this cartoon is a metaphor for the way that people often can’t tell what they are doing wrong (even though it may be staring them in the face).

    Cartoon reference number: a274

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Gardening cartoon – a model of a tower crane to hang hanging baskets

    hanging basket crane - cartoon

    Garden design cartoon – hanging basket cartoon

    Cartoon showing a hanging basket in a garden, suspended from a scale model of a construction crane or tower crane.

    The woman in the cartoon is saying “It’s dad’s way of moving into retirement gradually. He used to be a crane operator.”

    The model of the crane in the garden is meant to illustrate the fact that garden features and garden decorations need not be limited to concrete or resin copies of classical statues. The structure of the crane here is meant to suggest modern sculpture of constructivist sculpture to some extent, as well as simple garden frameworks and trellises for plants to climb on.
    A cartoon about retirement, changes in lifestyle as people get older, leisure activity in old age, retirement activities, keeping busy in retirement.

    Cartoon reference number: a273

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Garden cartoon – drooping crocuses

    crocus wilt - flower gardening cartoon

    Spring gardening cartoon
    Flower gardening cartoon, featuring drooping crocuses

    Cartoon of a gardener looking at some crocuses in his lawn.
    The crocuses are flopping over or keeling over and wilting after a very short period of flowering.
    The gardener is complaining that no sooner do crocuses come into flower than they then wilt and die.

    His wife is saying “Never mind dear, the daffodils will be along soon.”
    The wisdom of planting flowers for successive flowering

    This is a cartoon about optimism and pessimism, glass half full, glass half empty, looking on the bright side, plants flowering in succession. It’s also about life moving on, change.

    Cartoon reference number: a260

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Garden design cartoon – arranging plants in a garden border in alphabetical order

    Garden layout cartoon - alphabetical planting

    Gardening cartoons. Arranging flowers in an herbaceous border

    Cartoon about garden design, laying out garden borders

    Cartoon showing a man planting flowers and shrubs in a garden border

    The joke in this cartoon centres on the fact that the man who is laying out the garden has no aesthetic appreciation of design or colour in the garden, and is basing his design on categorisation of the plants by name. This is his idea of creating order and control in the garden, and this is what he is happy with.
    An important aspect of this cartoon is that the man is arranging his plants in alphabetical order – not in order based on species (which may be a method of planting that places order over aesthetics, but at least such a planting scheme has a rationality to it, whereas planting in alphabetical order is to some extent random and thus is an illusory form of rationale).
    A cartoon about planting schemes, garden layout, garden design.

    Cartoon reference number: a238

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Garden cartoons – a weed’s a weed. What’s the definition of a weed?

    A weed's a weed - cartoon

    Gardening cartoons. A weed’s a weed

    Cartoon about attitudes to weeds and wild plants

    Cartoon showing a man admiring a wild flower – but pulling it out of his garden anyway because he thinks of it as a weed

    A cartoon about the definition of weeds, wild flowers in gardens, natural gardening, wild flower gardening, encouraging wildlife and nature in the garden.

    Cartoon reference number: a237

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Garden humour. A drawback of tall plants

    tall flower cartoon

    Garden design cartoon. A drawback of tall plants

    A humorous illustration showing a flower bed with a very tall specimen in it.

    The gardener is saying “Its height is very impressive – but it stops us appreciating the amazing delicacy of its flowers”
    The flowers are ones that you really need to be able to get close to.

    Cartoon reference number: a225

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
  • Design for small gardens – cartoon. Maximise space with a spiral staircase

    spiral staircase in small garden comic illustration

    Gardening humour. Design for small suburban gardens. Using a spiral staircase to maximise space in a small garden

    Vertical gardening comic illustration – showing an outdoor spiral staircase in a very small garden, with flowers planted in hanging baskets up the staircase.

    How to make a small garden seem bigger.
    I may do a different version of this cartoon, set in a particular town in the UK. I’ll call the cartoon “The hanging gardens of Basildon”. Surely that must be the name of garden centre in Basildon. If it isn’t, it should be.
    This type of gardening is now known as vertical gardening. Versions of it can be found on walls on the sides of city buildings, both outdoors and indoors.

    Cartoon reference number: a220

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
  • Gardening humor – is there room for one more plant in a garden that’s full to bursting?

    Room for one more plant - cartoon

    Gardening cartoon – a garden that’s full of plants

    `humorous illustration showing gardeners in a very well stocked garden. One of the gardeners has just returned from the garden centre with yet another plant.

    She’s asking optimistically whether there’s room for another plant in the densely planted garden.

    Cartoon reference number: a219

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
  • Cartoon about prize-winning flowers – being destroyed by a child

    garden joke - child picking prize daffodils

    Gardening humour about prize-winning flowers

    Cartoon shows prize winning blooms being picked by a child as a present for her mother

    A humorous illustration about gardening competitions, flower shows, plant breeding, daffodils, children in gardens and prize winning blooms.

    Cartoon reference number: a216

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
  • Garden flowers joke – a flowerbed shaped like a map of the world

    cartoon - flowerbed shaped like map of the world

    Gardening cartoon. A flowerbed shaped like a map of the world

    A comic illustration showing a gardener laying out a flower bed in the shape of a map of the world.

    In the cartoon the flowers in each country are plants what are native to that country (so China is planted with flowers that originated in China, and so on)
    The joke is partly that the gardener hasn’t been able to source any plants from Antarctica.
    This is because the Antarctic is the only landmass on earth with no vegetation to speak of, apart from a few species that hang on in the margins. There are only two species of flowering plants in Antarctica, the Antarctic hair grass (Deschampsia antarctica) and the Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis), which grow on the South Orkney Islands, the South Shetland Islands and along the western Antarctic Peninsula (The source of this information is the British Antarctic Survey).
    Cartoon reference number: a212

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
  • Using a magnifying glass in the garden to look at a small flower

    magnifying glass to look at small flower cartoon

    Gardening humour. Using a magnifying glass to look at small flowers

    A cartoon showing a gardener looking at a very small flower through a magnifying lens.

    The magnifying glass is mounted on a stake in a plant pot, and the flower is in a plant pot
    A joke about appreciating flowers, studying blossoms, size isn’t everything, small but perfectly formed.
    Cartoon reference number: a211

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
  • Gardening and gardens cartoon. Using a concrete mixer as a garden plant holder

    gardening joke - concrete mixer as garden planter

    Gardening and gardens cartoon. Using a concrete mixer as a garden plant holder

    A joke about a gardener using a concrete mixer as a garden planter or plant pot.

    The joke in the cartoon is that the concrete mixer has just been used in order to concrete over the garden, leaving nowhere to plant flowers.

    A cartoon about gardening, garden design, patios, patio gardening, paving over the garden.

    Cartoon reference number: a201

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
  • Novice gardener asking “What’s this flower?”

    what's this flower cartoon (daffodil)

    Novice gardener cartoon. What’s this flower?
    It’s a daffodil

    A cartoon showing a man who is new to gardening looking at a flower and asking what species it is

    The joke is that the flower is a daffodil – a type of garden plant that is so common and popular that almost everyone knows by name.

    Drawn: Apr 2003

    Cartoon reference number: a190

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
  • Garden flowers for sale – with pretty labels showing the plants at their best

    pretty plant label cartoon

    Gardening humour. Plants for sale in garden centres have images on their labels that show the plants at their best

    Sometimes the plant labels show the plant as more beautiful than the plant will ever be (at least in most gardens).

    A cartoon about selling flowering plants, blossoms and blooms by showing the flowers on the plant name labels.
    Sometimes the flowers or plants on the labels look so much better than the actual specimen that they are almost against the trades description act.

    Drawn: Nov 2011

    Cartoon reference number: a186

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
  • Hospital garden cartoon – a sickly plant put on a drip

    hospital garden cartoon

    Hospital garden cartoon – plant on a drip

    Hospital garden cartoon – showing a sickly plant that has been put on a drip

    A cartoon showing a doctor in the garden of a hospital. He has noticed that one plant looks sickly, so he’s put it on a drip.
    A cartoon about ways of supplying nutrients to garden plants. Drip mechanisms are a common method of irrigating crops or of watering garden plants, so the drip joke isn’t actually very far fetched.
    Drawn: Oct 2007

    Cartoon reference number: a171
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  • A cartoon about flower gardening

    Holiday blooms cartoon

    A cartoon from a series about gardens and gardening

    A cartoon about garden flowers

    A cartoon showing a man noticing that the flowers in the garden always seem to come into bloom just when he’s going away on holiday.
    A cartoon about garden flowers, the importance of growing plants that come into blossom at the right time.

    Drawn: July 2010

    Cartoon reference number: a170
  • Gardening cartoon – watering the garden in the rain

    watering garden in the rain cartoon

    Gardening cartoon – watering the garden in the rain

    Cartoon showing a gardener watering the flowerbed with a watering can – while it’s raining.
    He is holding an umbrella to stop himself getting wet

    Cartoon reference number: a517
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  • Gardening cartoons: a climbing frame for climbing plants, in the form of a cobweb

    Gardening cartoons: a climbing frame for climbing plants, in the form of a cobweb

    Gardening cartoon

    A climbing frame for climbing plants, in the form of a spider’s web or cobweb

    A cartoon about insects and spiders (arachnids) in the garden, wildlife gardening and wildlife-friendly gardens
    Cartoon drawn: 2009
    Cartoon reference number:gar007
    How to obtain license to use cartoon
  • Gardening cartoons: hanging baskets in trees

    Gardening cartoon: a hanging basket in a tree, obscured by the tree's leaves.

    Gardening cartoon
    Hanging basket cartoon

    A hanging basket that was placed in a tree in the spring before the leaves came out on the trees, with the flowers in the basket obscured by the tree’s leaves in the summer.

    Cartoon drawn: 2009
    Cartoon reference number: gar027
    How to obtain license to use cartoon