Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold

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.

Top 10 plants for 2012

Before Gail and I begin in earnest to plan and order for next year’s gardens I had to spend a little time looking back through the year’s pictures. I always need to jog my memory … Read more.

November 1903 – Rome

Marjorie’s European Tour, 1903-1904 Taken from letters to her mother, Bessie We go back 109 years, and it is November 1903. Twenty-year-old Marjorie was very sorry to be leaving Florence, but madly excited to get … Read more.

October 1903 – Italy

OCTOBER 1903: ​It is now October 1903 and Marjorie has just spent an idyllic month in Venice — visiting churches, art museums, palaces, a glass factory, and a lace factory.  She spent a day at the Lido and took daily … Read more.

Gratuitous Friday photos

It’s been another hot, dry week but the gardens are as beautiful as ever. Proof is in the pictures and I just couldn’t resist doing a tiny Garden Bloggers Bloom Day preview since I always … Read more.

Essential plants (part one)

Last year Steve Aitken, the editor of Fine Gardening magazine, sent out a survey inspired by the list of 100 essential country-music songs Johnny Cash shared with his daughter Rosanne. Steve asked for a list … 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.

Protected: The Spring Chicken

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Protected: The Prince Chap

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Protected: Peter Pan

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