Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold

Breaking

I know I’m going to start sounding like a broken record but I can’t help going on about how early everything is. I looked up the other day when I was walking my dog and … Read more.

Write it down

All of the advice you ever read about sowing seeds includes a suggestion to keep a record of what you’ve sown when. I’m pretty sure my head would explode if we didn’t keep track. We … 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.

Sweet peas and springter

I really don’t know what to make of this season. The last few days have been in the bird-song-balmy 50’s but we woke this morning to fat flakes. They have already turned to freezing rain … Read more.

Roadtrip to Logee’s

Every year around this time Gail, our friend Mary Ann, and I plan a trip to Logee’s greenhouses in Danielson, CT. It’s not far away — no more than an hour and a half from … Read more.

Getting reacquainted

Going by the calendar it seems too soon to be out in the garden tidying up but it’s awfully hard to resist when the weather is warm, the birds are singing, and all signs point … Read more.

Pretty things

It’s hard not to want pretty things on Valentine’s Day. Or any day for that matter. Especially any day in February. But the sun is climbing higher, the plants in the greenhouse are perking up, … Read more.

Improvements

A little more than a month ago in a post about potting bench perfection I mentioned that our potting bench was in a sorry state and that the windows above it were drafty heat-leakers. No … Read more.

Pruner sharpening 101 (remedial lesson)

The birds are singing, the Mt. Aso pussywillow (Salix chaenomeloides ‘Mt. Aso’) is coloring buds, crocus are emerging, and it feels for all the world like early-spring outside. Given that we really ought to still … Read more.

Slippery slopes

Just in time for winter to finally look and feel more like a proper winter, Gail and I are sliding headfirst towards spring. We started the new year by looking through magazine back issues for … Read more.