Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold
Slow Flowers with Debra Prinzing
You’ve probably heard of the Slow Food movement. I don’t think I know anyone who hasn’t been making a conscious shift away from processed (fast) food to local, seasonable, sustainable whole-food sources. We’re eager to … Read more.
Day of the dormant
This has maybe been the prettiest fall week ever and we have spent it celebrating the gardens’ downward spiral into dormancy — as well as its eventual rebirth. You know we have a schedule to keep before allowing … Read more.
Slow flowers at Robin Hollow Farm
I often tell people that we’re too busy in the gardens to get out much. That might sound like a complaint but it’s not. For one thing, I hate to miss anything here, and when … Read more.
“A Rich Spot of Earth”
Until yesterday I had no idea that Thomas Jefferson was the first American to grow rutabaga. According to Peter Hatch, recently retired director of Monticello’s gardens and grounds, author of “A Rich Spot of Earth”: … Read more.
Tovah Martin to the rescue
As soon as I published about Stephen Orr speaking at our Garden Design Luncheon, I found out that he couldn’t get out of NYC. We know he would have been here if he possibly could … Read more.
Next week’s Garden (Design Luncheon)
You might (or might not) remember that a year and a half ago, a few members of Blithewold’s staff were invited to be in Martha Stewart’s Gardening Show studio audience. It was a hoot to … Read more.
Channeling Julie Moir Messervy
She makes garden design look so easy. Last Thursday for the second time in exactly a decade Julie Moir Messervy enraptured the Garden Design Luncheon crowd with her graciousness, easy-going wit, energy, style, and utterly pragmatic approach … Read more.
Immense sense of abundance
It’s kind of astonishing that an “immense sense of abundance” was, for Gail and me, a take-away theme from the Garden Design luncheon given that Joe Eck, our speaker, so recently lost his partner in … Read more.
A gardener’s spirit
The question of what it means to “preserve a garden” has come up a lot in our master plan workshops and meetings. (For those who might not know because I’ve probably never mentioned it here, … Read more.
Design in the details
Open any one of William Cullina’s books and you’ll get a good idea of the sort of person he is (our kind) and if you’re me, you’ll read cover to cover and learn something new … Read more.