Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold
The Fine Details
It’s astonishing how much time passes as I examine and admire the fine details of tree twigs. In the winter, a bare tree is just a bare tree from a distance, but upon closer inspection, … Read more.
A New Portrait of Augustine
When visitors take the special tour of our extensive Archives and Collections department on the third floor, they invariably comment that we must know everything there is to know about the Pardee/Van Wickle family. But … Read more.
Sweet Surprises
The day before the start of March, February has hit us with another round of snow. It is light, white, and fluffy. As much as I dislike the chill of winter, it’s hard to be … Read more.
Winter’s Walk
All it took for Betsy and me to be out the door on a chilly day was Joe to say that he just thought he heard an owl in the water garden. I have not … Read more.
Brave Souls
I like to think that the creators of our current calendar were trying to be kind when they made February the shortest month of the year. In all truthfulness, March has historically been my least … Read more.
The Optimism of a Gardener
Vita Sackville-West, the owner and co-creator of the great English garden Sissinghurst, wrote, “The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising and never satisfied. They always look forward to … Read more.
Seed Season
It’s that time of the year when seeds are on my brain. There is a whole box of seeds teasing me with dreams of future plants we will (hopefully) have in our gardens. A whole … Read more.
Pierre Casteran And Bill Cunningham
Pierre Casteran was the son of a wealthy French family who visited Blithewold several times in the 1950s and 1960s. The late Bill Cunningham, as many are aware, was the American fashion photographer for the … Read more.
Partners in Shine
Two plants of different textures planted side by side often benefit visually from the others presence. The differing anatomy makes the details of each texture clear to the viewer, and if the colors balance each … Read more.
Sweet January
January is a wonderful month in the greenhouse. Winter weather is settling in on the landscape but winter blooms abound under the glass. The orchid pictured at the top is a Cymbidium type that goes … Read more.