Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold

Gifts of Nature

To me it still feels too early to talk about the holidays – I avert my eyes from any commercial Christmas display at least until the day after Thanksgiving – but Blithewold’s decorators have been … Read more.

Greenhouse sweethearts

Happy Valentine’s Day!

A big gift

‘Tis the season for us to count our blessings. Here in the greenhouse, Gail and I count some of our blessings by the hundreds and have just added peace of mind to our list. Today … Read more.

December – field of vision

It’s too easy to lose sight of the garden at this time of year. It’s freezing cold; we’ve gone indoors; we’re focused on the holidays. But what I realized the other day, when I took … Read more.

Plenty

For gardeners, this blustery cusp of fall into winter is the true turning of the year – much more real to us than the holiday in January that opens the calendar year. As our gardens … Read more.

Spring around the corner

As you all know, this past Tuesday was the Feast of the Presentation of the Prophet Phil. I celebrated and paid homage as usual but I think I might be losing faith in The Groundhog. … Read more.

Embarrassment of riches

I am always blown away by the extravagant abundance surrounding the holidays – even when my family makes the annual decision to “go easy this year”. But it occurs to me that I should really … Read more.

I’m dreaming of a white solstice

This weekend’s blizzard dropped an immeasurable foot or two of snow at Blithewold and sculpted it in great drifts and wavelets. No need for dreaming (though the song is spinning endlessly in my head) because … Read more.

Few and far between

Mid-December blooms shouldn’t be easy to come by. I’m actually pleased to report that the kniphofias have finally fallen and as you can see the astrantia, sturdy old thing, is looking a little on the … Read more.

Still life

The other day during lunch I cast my eyes around the room as I always do and instead of looking through it to my own messy thoughts I actually saw the clutter and made a … Read more.