Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold

A Passalong Plant (for the Garden Bloggers’ Book Club)

I haven’t read the book club’s selection for this month: Passalong Plants by Steve Bender and Felder Rushing (every time lately that I sit still with any open book I pass out cold – it’s … Read more.

the elves

It’s already been a weird week of elfish triumph, freakish nature and things that nightmares are made of. First the triumphs: our garden elves and selves yesterday planted the cutting garden and spread leaf mulch … Read more.

Perfect start

I wonder if everyone had as glorious a Memorial Day weekend as we had here in sunny RI? Every nursery and garden center I passed by seemed packed with color – both human and floral. … Read more.

Welcome Summer!

Memorial Day is the official opening of the summer season – especially in New York resort towns like Rhode Island – and today’s weather, instead of being an appropriately crisp (or rainy) farewell to Spring, … Read more.

It’s about time

The North Garden is done! (pretty much. for today, anyway. mostly.) Yesterday on the way over with carts full of plants in nursery pots, Gail and I remembered almost at the same moment that we … Read more.

Manic Monday

(“wish it was Sunday”) But it rained all over “funday” – somewhere between 2 and 4 inches for the weekend. There’s always plenty to do on Monday to get (dis)organized for the week. This week … Read more.

T.G.I.R.F. (thank goodness it’s a rainy friday)

Gail and I need a good catch-up day in the greenhouse and the rain is forcing us to stay in and get to it! There are seedlings that still need transplanting (poor stretched out, pack-bound … Read more.

Photo Op

I couldn’t resist a couple of pictures today — Here’s Augustus Van Wribbit kicking back on the lotus. Earlier this week, I falsely accused Gus-Gus of dining on one of the new fish but Milo, … Read more.

Getting in a groove

Now that we’ve relocated all the perennials we had-to-had-to move and frantic spring is speeding along to an early languid summer (can you believe the maples that are fully leafed out already?!), I feel like … Read more.

On Chemistry

We are asked – fairly frequently – what do we do to make our gardens grow so lusciously? – What do we use for fertilizer? Our answer “not much” is hard for fellow Rhode Islanders … Read more.