lit. the falling flowers are yearning for love, but the heartless brook ripples on (idiom) / fig. one side is willing, yet the other one remains indifferent (usually of unrequited love)
lit. you plant a garden and the flowers do not bloom, you poke a stick in the mud and it grows into a tree / fig. things do not always turn out as one would expect / well-laid plans may fail, and success may come where you least expect it