Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold
The best news
As much as I love getting away for a summer vacation, coming back to work is not so bad when it looks like this. While I was gone the gardens grew even more beautiful. So … Read more.
Slow gardening
This week has to have been the prettiest week of the summer so far. The sky is clear as a bell, a slightly lower humidity level has made it easier for internal thermostats to function … Read more.
Missed stakes
By now we have a pretty good idea of what plants in the garden are going to fall over by mid-summer and we usually plan way ahead to prevent floppage. We have whole sets of … Read more.
How we beat the heat
We didn’t. We just rolled with the sun’s punches, sweated buckets, and are still recovering. But even though we lost the fight in some respects — we lost a week with the volunteers, lost appetites … Read more.
Mulch ado
After something like 9 inches of rain fell on the gardens in the last week or so we haven’t had to worry too much (too mulch?) about soil moisture. But we’re nearly done planting (wahoo!) … Read more.
Multitasking to-dos
If it wasn’t for Gail’s lists and ability to prioritize, I’d probably have lost my tiny mind by now. There is so much to do that seems to need doing right-this-minute that without the lists, … Read more.
Perennial planting spree
I think we outdid ourselves. In the last couple of weeks Gail, Betsy, the volunteers, and I planted about 700 perennials and a handful of shrubs. Going into our planning season this past winter, Gail … Read more.
Friends don’t let friends plant impatiens
I have bad news and good news. The bad news is there’s a fungus among us. Impatiens downy mildew (Plasmopara obducens), the mysterious ailment that denuded and killed almost every busy Lizzie (Impatiens walleriana) back … Read more.
What’s next
Even though the daffodils are still blooming their little hearts out I can’t help looking forward to the next thing(s) following hot on their heels. The tulips and cherry trees are just getting going, winter … Read more.
A wonderful week
It’s quite possible that the daffodils have never been as beautiful as they’ve been this week. The early daffs are lingering while the late ones open (there are still more to come) and the entire … Read more.