Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold
An Evening at the Opera
An Evening at the Opera, 1912 Bessie and William McKee spent their winters in Boston at their large, elegant townhouse on Commonwealth Avenue. Among their favorite entertainments was the Opera. They were members of the Boston … Read more.
Spring cleaning
According to the calendar — and the redwing blackbirds — the pendulum between winter and summer has finally swung into spring. Huzzah! (Never mind next week’s forecast.) To celebrate, we did some extremely gratifying spring … Read more.
March ado
I’m not even going to bother go in search for spring outside today because it looks and feels too much like winter again. Blustery. Bitter cold. Snowy, even (though nothing compared to other parts of … Read more.
Pop Quiz!
Since Kris is off this week I decided I would double up on posts and change the format a little bit. Below are an assortment of cones (and one non conifer). Can you give all … Read more.
Bring on spring
We’ve made room in the propagating house for trays of seedlings. We’ve ordered new tools and can’t wait to use them. We’re ready. Raring to go. Fingers tapping. Meanwhile, there’s nothing better than a bucket … Read more.
A sow-called spring
I haven’t spotted any crocus, snowdrops or early daffs blooming yet, and I know the calendar says spring is still a whole month away, but in the greenhouse the growing season officially kicked off yesterday. … Read more.
Tallying up
Gail and I have spent the last couple of weeks going through catalogs, engaging in deep discussions about next year’s dream gardens and making endless wishlists. Now it’s time to tally up. We are allotted … Read more.
Understanding amaryllis
I have had a mental block about proper amaryllis care. I have read all of the advice I could find and remained deeply confused. For years. And I think I just figured out why. No … Read more.
Finding other outlets for gardening energy
I’m not sure what I would do without a real break from gardening. As much as I dream all winter of hightailing it to the tropics, I depend on this dark, cold season for the … Read more.
Practicing the art of coziness
According to the recently released World Happiness Report, Denmark ranks as the happiest country on Earth and one of the reasons listed for that is the Danes’ collective regular practice of something called hygge (pronounced hyooga. … Read more.