Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold

JUNE 1903 — On board the Deutschland, and Paris

Marjorie’s European Tour, 1903-1904 Taken from letters to her mother, Bessie JUNE 1903  —  On board the Deutschland,  and Paris On June 4, 1903, nineteen-year-old Marjorie Van Wickle set sail from New York on board … Read more.

Natural companions

I finally bought my very own copy of Ken Druse’s latest book Natural Companions: A Garden Lover’s Guide to Plant Combinations and if you don’t have a copy yet, it’s worth dropping everything else – … Read more.

Happy planting!

It’s game time here at Blithewold. Even though we’ve been planting steadily since … March (!) the biggest push starts now that we’re well past frost and are desperate to get everything moved out of … Read more.

Feeling the pinch

Despite knowing that pinching new growth makes plants branch into full and sturdy clumps that promise extra flowers, it can be one of the hardest things to do. Somehow it goes against the grain to … Read more.

An awesome weekend

This very well could be the most amazing weekend yet. The forecast is calling for sunny skies in the San Diego-70’s and every flower that can possibly be open right now is in peak glorious … Read more.

Euphor(b)ia

For this mid-May Garden Bloggers Bloom Day hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, I’m going to postpone the usual list of all of the amazing things that are blooming suddenly all at once and … Read more.

Plants with promise

When it’s pouring rain outside, the greenhouse is definitely the best place to be. It’s not exactly warm on a gray day and it’s not completely dry either but it is full of summer’s promise. … Read more.

Planting weather

Now that the heat of April is behind us, we’re taking full advantage of the coolness and rain of May. The weather is a little backwards but we’ll take what we can get when it … Read more.

Spring tapestry

Word from our Visitor’s Center is that visitation drops off in May. I can’t imagine why. We might not be promoting daffodils anymore but there is still so much going on here. More and more … Read more.

Limbo

Given that March felt like May and April felt a little like July, it’s been really hard not to move everything outside and start planting annuals and tomatoes as if it’s safe. But then didn’t … Read more.