Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold

Open season

This is it. This is when it all begins. It’s President’s Day. It’s time to sow the sweet peas! And that means the great rush and push of spring begins this week. I’m taking just … Read more.

Be mine

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! A day early for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day, here are blooms galore (mostly from the greenhouse). Every day I work around plants that I want. I go around sometimes saying, “I … Read more.

A hole in the garden

Gardens are not always just about plants. As a matter of fact, I think the plants are a bit beside the point. A lovely garden is lovely because someone made it so. Just like how … Read more.

Toons

In 1926 Blithewold’s 50 year old Toon tree (Cedrela sinensis aka Toona sisensis) bloomed for the first time (and was thought to be the first one to bloom in this country). William McKee, Bessie Van … Read more.

Winter is fattening

Sometimes that’s not a bad thing. (I’m not talking about Superbowl Sunday chili binges and consolation snacks for sad Patriots’ fans.) Deliciously spring-like temperatures and the weekend’s warming sun have started plumping up the buds … Read more.

Light at the end of the tunnel

The light is definitely changing. I have to be quick now because in the middle of the afternoon the sun angles in the potting shed windows, arcs across the monitor screen and slides underneath my … Read more.

There’s hope

Gail and I were joined last week by an adorably snarky representative from Generation Y who maybe just might definitely be a gardener. Lila is a senior at Barrington High School. Her parents have a … Read more.

Surprises

I guess I was a little distracted on Bloom Day this month because I missed these little sweetums blooming (outdoors!) practically right under my nose. Walking from the greenhouse to the house I pass this … Read more.

Permission to go a little crazy

Seed catalog shopping is a dangerous business. Even for us. Even with a greenhouse for early spring sowing and 5 good sized gardens to fill we have to be careful to not buy more than … Read more.

Get thee to a greenhouse

  It’s a sunny, breezy 24 degrees F. outside and a sunny, fragrant, toasty-feeling 62 in the greenhouse. I’d rather be in the greenhouse than out of it right now. If you’re anything like me, … Read more.