Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold
More spring carpets
So many of our favorite groundcovers have their day in the sun, so to speak, in the spring. Particularly the ones that are made for the shade. Before the trees leaf out they get the … Read more.
Spring carpets
Why is it that a pack full of seedlings is a thrilling thing and a carpet of seedlings in the garden is alarming? I once got in big trouble with a friend for bringing teasel … Read more.
Stake your claim
Evidently some plants didn’t quit growing over the winter. I can understand why most gardeners prefer to corral their herbs in pots. I’m not a huge fan of that trick because they seem to hate … Read more.
Slow and steady wins the race
Spring always brings the fast-n-furious out in me. There’s so much that must get done and so much I want to do that I have a hard time organizing my thoughts, let alone my actions. … Read more.
Cue Spring!
Everybody has a different cue for letting ourselves admit that it’s finally spring. For some of us (me), spring officially begins when we sow the sweet peas (back around President’s Day). Others might notice spring … Read more.
Spring is out of order
Which isn’t to say that anything is broken, in need of fixing. I just don’t ever remember magnolias blooming before the forsythia. Saucer magnolias are out all over town, our hedge of M. x loebneri … Read more.
Unpredictable
Yesterday a reporter from one of the local papers called to ask about the daffodils. She wondered when they would bloom; are they early; how long would they last; and what comes next? A very … Read more.
Getting a move on
I can’t think of a better way to spend a record-breaking official first day of spring than playing musical plants out in the garden. At home I move plants around usually because I didn’t put … Read more.
Mid-March bloom report
As we get closer to Daffodil Days here at Blithewold I keep expecting to be asked for a tally of how many are in bloom. I’m ready for it. Today there are 3 daffodils in … Read more.
Adaptations
Nature has her own ways of doing things and her own timing. There’s no predicting it. — It hadn’t occurred to us last August when we ordered bulbs that squirrels would be acorn deprived and … Read more.