Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold

Leaving it

After Tropical Storm Irene stripped the color from so many trees around here back in August I was pretty pessimistically convinced that fall color would be lousy this year. And maybe that’s why it has … Read more.

Indian summer

It’s almost 70 degrees outside, the air is feather-soft, the sky is blue-blue and the sun has that golden, get-under-your-eyelids slant. It’s the kind of day that absolutely insists that we get outside. We should … Read more.

Pockets of color

There has been a lot of speculation ever since Irene blew through that this wouldn’t be a good fall foliage year. Even in the days after the storm the horizon – particularly anything facing south … Read more.

Baby pictures

Everybody loves babies, right? They’re so tiny and soft and fuzzy; totally precious and addictively photogenic. I am completely enamored with spring’s tiny toes and can’t get enough of (almost) all of its smells. I’m … Read more.

Picking up the pace

This spring is feeling exactly like one of those Jack-in-the-box wind-up toys. The crank handle has been winding … winding … winding … winding until just when I gave up really expecting it anymore, it … Read more.

First opportunities

I’m probably not alone in preferring to work indoors whenever it’s cold and wet outside; and in going absolutely bonkers if I can’t get outside whenever the sun is warm and the air is soft … Read more.

Greenhouse sweethearts

Happy Valentine’s Day!

In the zone

I think there’s a part of every gardener who chooses to disbelieve, ignore or at the very least push on the arbitrary seeming zone boundaries laid by the USDA. But then every few years we … Read more.

Gratuitous color for a black & white day

As much as I love and appreciate the meditative quiet of a good snow fall, we’ve had a lot of opportunity to meditate lately and I’m starting to feel a little restless. In order to … Read more.

December’s best plants

When I visit garden centers in the spring and summer I seem to have a hard time remembering to buy plants that will carry my garden through the winter. I forget all about my intention … Read more.