Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold
Making arrangements
I don’t think I have been nearly noisy enough about the cutting garden this year. It is so knock-your-socks-off bloomerific. I’m also not sure I’ve mentioned just how fun it is to pick flowers from … 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.
Spring revealed
I’m always a little nervous to tidy away winter’s protective cover especially while the forecasts yo-yo between mild days and frigid snowy nights. But we’re opening officially for the season next week so it must … Read more.
Sun days
I have to keep reminding myself that this is normal. It might be unusual to be getting quite so much snow, but otherwise March is really behaving as March should. — Unlike last year when … Read more.
Acknowledgements
Any holiday or page in a book set aside for expressions of gratitude is just the best thing ever. So I thought I should celebrate this Thanksgiving by at least attempting to acknowledge the the … Read more.
Ticking time bombs
It was a big and busy day yesterday, in more ways than one. We passed another milestone in this year’s garden calendar – the first real killing frost fell finally. And while that marked the … Read more.
4000 bulbs
That’s my answer for anyone who might wonder why I haven’t posted in a few days. 4000 bulbs, give or take. Planted. Mostly. Still planting… Over the last couple of weeks, Gail and Tricia and … Read more.
Deadheads in the garden
Our Tuesday volunteer group has been known for years — for ever? — as the “Deadheads” because they work in the Display Garden and traditionally, the biggest summer chore in these gardens has been to … Read more.
The bare minimum
When the cicadas start buzzing early in the morning we know we’re in for a scorcher. With temps in the 90’s, high humidity and ground level ozone levels that were predicted to “approach or exceed … Read more.
When it rains, it pours
I would never complain about getting rain when we need it but almost every week for the last few we’ve lost at least one day with our volunteers. It has interfered with our planting schedule and … Read more.