Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold

Every day is Bloom Day!

The Annual Meeting is behind us, the (monthly) Garden Soirees are before us, visitors visit daily and the blooms must go on! I know I’m not the only one who tidies madly at home for … Read more.

Something Completely Different

Honk if foundation plantings make you cringe! There’s no doubt about it, it’s difficult to live in the world and not at least have a neighbor with Yertle the Turtle style bubble shrubberies flanking their … Read more.

Will Work For Baked Goods

I really enjoy working with each group of volunteers and I missed out a little this week. We called off the volunteers on Tuesday because of Monday’s torrential rain and I was lashed to my … Read more.

Coming attractions

The guys have just about finished with “phase 1” of the Display Garden redesign. Gail and I really didn’t know how they were going to deal with a tricky grading issue in the last bed … Read more.

A Passalong Plant (for the Garden Bloggers’ Book Club)

I haven’t read the book club’s selection for this month: Passalong Plants by Steve Bender and Felder Rushing (every time lately that I sit still with any open book I pass out cold – it’s … Read more.

the elves

It’s already been a weird week of elfish triumph, freakish nature and things that nightmares are made of. First the triumphs: our garden elves and selves yesterday planted the cutting garden and spread leaf mulch … Read more.

Welcome Summer!

Memorial Day is the official opening of the summer season – especially in New York resort towns like Rhode Island – and today’s weather, instead of being an appropriately crisp (or rainy) farewell to Spring, … Read more.

It’s about time

The North Garden is done! (pretty much. for today, anyway. mostly.) Yesterday on the way over with carts full of plants in nursery pots, Gail and I remembered almost at the same moment that we … Read more.

T.G.I.R.F. (thank goodness it’s a rainy friday)

Gail and I need a good catch-up day in the greenhouse and the rain is forcing us to stay in and get to it! There are seedlings that still need transplanting (poor stretched out, pack-bound … Read more.

Getting in a groove

Now that we’ve relocated all the perennials we had-to-had-to move and frantic spring is speeding along to an early languid summer (can you believe the maples that are fully leafed out already?!), I feel like … Read more.