Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold
All eyes on peonies
Even after so many years gardening (how many? I’m much too young to say 20+) it still feels counter intuitive to transplant in the fall. Maybe it’s because I love the fall garden and don’t … Read more.
October 1903 – Italy
OCTOBER 1903: It is now October 1903 and Marjorie has just spent an idyllic month in Venice — visiting churches, art museums, palaces, a glass factory, and a lace factory. She spent a day at the Lido and took daily … Read more.
Guest post: A Sensory Walk
Tricia Bailey, our gardens intern this year, is a horticultural therapist by training and instinct has an infectious enthusiasm and energy for the work she clearly loves to do. She is even willing to write … Read more.
Migrations
Whole days go by now between hummingbird sightings and I just stood in the Display Garden with my camera poised for a good 15 minutes waiting to catch a glimpse of a monarch. They’re few … Read more.
Critiquing the North Garden
There are always things we want to change about every garden. Plants we want to move. Plants we want to remove. New plants we want to plant. We don’t just want the gardens to change … Read more.
September color
As much as I love the freshness of a June garden, September is my favorite month. Some visitors seem surprised that we “still” have so much color but I can’t imagine it any other way. … Read more.
Deadheads in the garden
Our Tuesday volunteer group has been known for years — for ever? — as the “Deadheads” because they work in the Display Garden and traditionally, the biggest summer chore in these gardens has been to … Read more.
Do-It-Yourself pollination
Yesterday working in the Rose Garden one of our diligent volunteer weeders gave us a rare opportunity to check out some flowers that were never meant to be noticed. As the gardens continue to explode … Read more.
SEPTEMBER 1903 – GERMANY AND AUSTRIA
Marjorie’s European Tour, 1903-1904 Taken from letters to her mother, Bessie In early September, Marjorie’s train steamed into Berlin where the temperature was 100 degrees in the shade. It was debilitating after the freshness of … Read more.
The sweetness of Concord grapes
There’s a particular scent in the air evocative of childhood and candy treats: grapes are ripening on arbors all over town. Almost every garden in Bristol has at least one grape arbor and Blithewold is … Read more.