Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold

Ticking time bombs

It was a big and busy day yesterday, in more ways than one. We passed another milestone in this year’s garden calendar – the first real killing frost fell finally. And while that marked the … Read more.

Christmas at Blithewold 2012: “A Grand Tour of Europe”

Can you believe winter is just around the corner? We can—because it’s that time of year again… Christmas at Blithewold! I know what you’re thinking … so soon? It’s never too soon for Christmas, so … Read more.

November 1903 – Rome

Marjorie’s European Tour, 1903-1904 Taken from letters to her mother, Bessie We go back 109 years, and it is November 1903. Twenty-year-old Marjorie was very sorry to be leaving Florence, but madly excited to get … Read more.

Next week’s Garden (Design Luncheon)

You might (or might not) remember that a year and a half ago, a few members of Blithewold’s staff were invited to be in Martha Stewart’s Gardening Show studio audience. It was a hoot to … Read more.

Spared

Hurricane (Superstorm, Frankenstorm) Sandy hit others much worse than it hit us. We were very lucky. It wasn’t even as bad as Irene last year when we lost something like 19 trees. Only one came … Read more.

4000 bulbs

That’s my answer for anyone who might wonder why I haven’t posted in a few days. 4000 bulbs, give or take. Planted. Mostly. Still planting… Over the last couple of weeks, Gail and Tricia and … Read more.

Autumn’s edge

I have been focusing so intently on the gardens lately (I’ll post about why next week) that I think I might have been in danger of forgetting to get excited about fall color. But over … Read more.

Blooms worth waiting for

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks moving back into the greenhouse; a touch of frost fell this past Saturday morning; and we’re mentally preparing to take the gardens apart this week to make way … Read more.

Everything is connected

Last Friday, after a mostly rainy-drizzly week, Gail and I spent part of a fog-burnt morning surfing the interwebs in the Display Garden. I know spiders are busy this time of year because I have … Read more.

An artist in the garden

There are often artists in the garden. Some bring easels and paints, others bring notebooks and pens, or just their imagination. Ellen Hoverkamp brought her flatbed scanner and laptop. If you did as I suggested … Read more.