trad
Nancy Kerr assembled this version from “less well-known versions of this archetypal gardener-as-lover song, based around a melody collected by Ella Mary Leather in Weobley, Herefordshire.”
The Melrose Quartet: https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com/track/the-seeds-of-love
https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com/track/the-seeds-of-love
I sowed the seeds of love It was all in the spring In April May and in June likewise While small birds they do sing (x2) My garden was planted well With flowers everywhere But I hadn’t the liberty to choose for myself The flowers that I loved dear My gardener he stood by And I asked him to choose for me He chose me the violet the lily and the pink But those I refused all three In June there’s a red rose bud And that’s the flower for me For often have I plucked at the red rose bud Til I gained the willow tree Come all you false young men Don’t leave me to complain For grass that has often been trampled underfoot Given time it will rise again