Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold
Batten down the hatches
Yesterday’s sky was dusted with those high flying cirrus mare’s tails and mackerel’s scales that precede a storm and the news is full of a tropical storm named for one of our groundsmen. As I … Read more.
Picking up steam
I’d like to take just a moment to fulfill my duty as a New Englander and complain about the weather. For the past week or two it’s been hot. And not only has it been … Read more.
When it pours
A rainy day offers many possibilities to the dedicated gardener. Even though a few of us might see a storm as a welcome opportunity for a break (I’m sure I’d like to wrap up on … Read more.
Fight or blight
Pretty safe to say that it’s not going to be a great tomato year. If we’re very very lucky maybe we’ll get some honker waterlogged fruit with split skins but conditions are apparently favorable for … Read more.
The axis of summer
In a way it’s a little strange that this seems (maybe especially to non-gardeners) to be the hub of our gardening year – that all of our efforts revolve around this very point. We know … Read more.
Downhill from here
With the summer solstice behind us and all of the gardens planted, we’ve officially turned the corner and begun the slide into summer. Now if we could just switch the weather machine to its summer … Read more.
Ideal conditions
For the next few weeks Gail and I will plant, divide and move perennials in any kind of weather short of a monsoon-style downpour but we both had to agree that, even though we are … Read more.
Working overtime
The landscape is changing before our very eyes. Plants have taken advantage of the recent heatwavelet to push out leaves, flowers and seeds like it’s their job and they’re putting in for overtime. I’m astonished … Read more.
Therapy
Nearly everyone is badmouthing the weather. We are all, universally it seems, ready for spring by which we might all mean summer. We want to be warm now and surrounded by green growth and flowers … Read more.
A jump on spring
The weather has been so mild this past week that we couldn’t help but be outside cleaning up – about two weeks ahead of last year. And I know we’re not alone – it seems … Read more.