Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold
Still life
The other day during lunch I cast my eyes around the room as I always do and instead of looking through it to my own messy thoughts I actually saw the clutter and made a … Read more.
Better late
I think I probably speak for most gardeners in four-season climates when I say we don’t really mind if our first, second and even third favorite season lingers a bit longer than usual. It gives … Read more.
Design in the details
Open any one of William Cullina’s books and you’ll get a good idea of the sort of person he is (our kind) and if you’re me, you’ll read cover to cover and learn something new … Read more.
I brake for Franklinia alatamaha
Sometimes it’s all about timing. John and William Bartram were in exactly the right place, the coastal shores of the Altamaha River in Georgia, at exactly the right time, 1770, just a few years before … Read more.
Collecting leaves
I remember walking to school in the fall with a beach-comber’s lurch looking for the most beautiful leaf. When I found it, I memorized it and then kept looking for a more perfect one. I … Read more.
Compost happens
There is definitely something to be said for the fruits of the fall garden clean-up labor: As the bumper sticker puts it, “Compost Happens”. We have been chipping away at the gardens adding more and … Read more.
All Hallows’ Eve
The boundary between this world and the next is said to be thin right now. – Personally I think it’s on the thin side most days but it’s good to have a reason to honor … Read more.
Dahlia experiments
Whoever says that gardening is a completely stress-free (a)vocation must never plant anything let alone those plants that come with their own set of instructions. Like dahlias. For starters, dahlias are generally sold as tubers … Read more.
Leaf gawping
I’m not crazy about the term “leaf peeping”. Not only is it a little too tweely alliterative but it seems to suggest something furtive and illicit. I’d much rather point and stare openly at the … Read more.
How to let go
I know I’d be complaining bitterly right now if we had had a frost or (heaven forbid) a snow but it would be so much easier to let go of the gardens if they looked … Read more.