and it seems like a whole week has gone by - everything is happening so fast now! For a taste of what yesterday looked like at Blithewold, head right over to Ledge and Gardens. It’s so fun to see Blithewold through another’s eyes - but I’m really sorry that I missed Layanee’s visit!

I ran around this morning trying to catch up with all the changes. The Korean Spice Bush (Viburnum carlesii) is beginning to bloom and smells divine - if only we had virtual scratch and sniff! Last year we planted a compact form (Viburnum carlesii ‘Compactum’) in the Rose Garden - it looks (and smells) like a perfect shrub for a small garden. I’m putting it on my own-garden wish list…

The Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) are up all of a sudden along with epimediums that apparently leafed out and began to bloom over night. And the tulips are opening before our very eyes.

The warm spell is a mixed blessing - the daffodils are still peaking but the first ones (the ‘Ice Follies’ especially) are beginning to go by. Good thing there are so many other spring beauties opening up! The weekend still looks good weather wise - don’t let a little rain in the forecast for Sunday slow you down - we’re having an open house in the greenhouse! Gail and Julie will be here from 1 - 4 and our favorite garden books will be out on the potting bench for you to flip through. We’re busy getting the place spiffed now — we needed a good excuse to tidy up!

Look up. Look out. New leaves are turning all over the place! I think if you had the patience you could practically sit and watch the births like chicks hatching. I don’t have that kind of patience - or that kind of time! But I’m glad to have taken a look up and out this morning. The Cut Leaf Full Moon Japanese Maple (Acer japonicum ‘Aconitifolium’) was my morning’s favorite and another that sports puppy fur - which reminds me, no one has shared the answer yet to the fur’s-purpose question from the other day - my guess is still for frost protection.

The Kentucky yellowwood (Cladastrus kentuckea ‘Sweet Shade’) is finely fuzzed too. - What a shape! This one was my favorite.

And the Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) are also nestled in fur muffs and suprisingly tall all of a sudden! (favorite)

The Katsura (Cercidiphylum japonicum) leafed out overnight - the last I looked it only had flowers and now it’s got leaves the size of quarters. (2nd favorite)

And the Butterbur (Petasites japonicus) is giving me fits because its leaves have grown so much in the last week that I’ve had to move the label further out 3 times. (gah. but, of course - it’s a favorite.)

Aside from watching the leaves grow, strolling through a peak daffodil display and chatting with hundreds of visitors (hurrah for a banner week!) we’ve gotten a lot done the last couple of days and even put some stars on our calendar. -We draw big stars and underlines and color it all in highlighter orange when we’ve passed a major milestone. This week it was planting the sweet peas! We grew 17 varieties (including colors like Royal Wedding and April in Paris - in honor of my March) and planted them on a new fence edging Dick’s vegetable garden.

We also spent time with the Rockettes this morning replanting a muddy bank of Astilbe that have been hurling themselves out of the ground in the last couple of years. We could just pick up the clumps with our hands, they had heaved so much. Some clumps managed to survive such a life (fish out of water) and we’ll replace the ones that died with other things that might like a boggy shade bank that occasionally goes bone dry in a drought. (Is there anything?) This is a really good time, by the way, to move, divide or replant perennials - we try to do all our perennial moving before the end of April.

And could it be time already to hoop the peonies??!! Better check yours - I got our hoops on in the North Garden just in time - I didn’t have to smash and yank!

What have you been up to this week? Any milestones?  Turn over any new leaves?

No matter what I set out to do, something else always grabs me. All gardeners are familiar with this phenomenon (and some have already written winningly about it!). I went into the greenhouse with every intention of shifting pots from bench to bench in an attempt at organization. It was inevitable really that I’d discover that some plants needed water so of course I checked the whole place. In the middle of that sidetrack I discovered that the larkspur seedlings were eaten (grrrr!) and spent the next 10 minutes on a slug patrol. I checked the bottom of every peat pot, booted the little devils and unceremoniously squarshed them. (I think sometimes I should pick on someone my own size but a couple of these nearly were.) Anyway I’m getting sidetracked. So, I was in the middle of doing that when I noticed that the pitcher plant (Sarracenia leucophylla ‘Tarnok’ - ‘Judith Hindle’) flower was starting to unpeel and because I promised a couple of visitors last week that I’d post a picture I had to run right then and grab my camera.

I’m so sidetracked right now by spring that I might as well just get off the train for awhile. This is the other stuff that hooked me today: New leaves on the Red Chestnut (Aesculus x carnea ‘Briotii’) still have their puppy fur. Anyone know what the fuzz is for? My guess would be frost protection but then why do only some early openers have it?

The Pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) is furry too.

The Quince (Chaenomeles) reminds me of popcorn which reminds me that it’s ages since I went out to the movies…

The Winter hazel (Corylopsis glabrescens ‘Longwood Chime’) is still shaking out her skirts.

The Water Garden Cherry (Prunus x yedoensis ‘Akebono’) is in bloom - this tree would stop you in your tracks too.

And of course the Daffodils. Peak-a-boo! Most of the ‘Ice Follies’ have bleached to white and might go by in the next couple of weeks but the late bloomers will distract you completely. This one is Narcissus poeticus. When your daffs go by, it’s ok to deadhead them but be sure to leave the foliage on to nourish the bulb for at least 6 weeks. (Ideally you should let the foliage turn completely yellow and pull it when it comes out easily.) In case you’re wondering, we do not deadhead all 50,000 daffodils but we do tidy up the ones in and around the gardens and hope that we’ve been clever enough to plant something that will fill in and hide the clumps. Do you plant cover-ups? Do you braid the foliage à la Martha Stewart? Are you so easily sidetracked that you stop noticing it?

And I almost forgot! (I was thinking about popcorn.) - The Bosquet fountain is on! I’d never seen it in action - it’s been pretty much out of commission for nearly 10 years. Thanks to a generous grant and lots of hard work it’s a water feature once again. It would be lovely to sit and listen to the trickle… FYI: our restrooms are located to the right of the mansion entrance.

Anyone out and about today in this part of the world knows it’s a glorious day (condolences for anyone stuck indoors). And anyone who’s out and about at Blithewold today knows this is absolutely the place to be. Here’s a taste for any of you who can’t be here and a pre-weekend update for all who are thinking of making the trip:

(As always, hover over images for the caption or click on them for a larger view)

Have a fabulous spring weekend and hope to see you here!

I could tell this morning, when the birds were louder than the chuckle and siss of my coffee maker, that spring has sprung officially and certainly, no doubt about it. It even seemed almost a little easier to bounce out of bed this morning. Now that the forsythia is in full bloom I think it’s time to really pay attention or the next thing you know it’ll be mid-summer! Do you have color associations for the different phases of the seasons? Spring, to me, is a bright yellow and light greenish feathery time and then there’s an early summer shift to pale blue. It seemed like a lot of people walking the property today were in my early summer color - there’s a lot of blue going on and I don’t think everyone was decked out for our superstar garden and archives volunteer, Mary - or maybe they were! We, the staff, and a few volunteers definitely were. Here’s all of us wearing blue. We love you, Mary!

I’m not sure what happened to the lull I mentioned last week - it’s over and we’re already in 4th gear revved to full speed ahead. We started moving some of Dick’s and our vegetables outside to harden off and yesterday the Rockettes deadheaded the hydrangeas by the summer house and Gail and Joel and I started moving shrubs and the last few perennials out of the Idea Beds. (More on the Idea Bed redesign later.) We also planted out the foxgloves we babied in the greenhouse over the winter and helped the Florabundas cut back the old liriope leaves in the bed by the Moongate. If the days weren’t so beautiful our crews might have complained bitterly about their hydrangea and liriope chores being like deadheading the Coryopsis ‘Moonbeam’ - which if you’ve ever attempted that task you know it’s tedious-ridiculous-endless. We don’t have any ‘Moonbeam’ in the gardens anymore…

And I can’t leave out the daffodil report. It’s so close to peak I’m calling it pretty nearly peak. The next couple of days are forecasted stunners and I think that the buds that are poised to open might just have to pop. We still think full and total peak will occur this weekend and into and beyond next week as long as the weather cooperates. Keep an eye on the forecast and please come through whenever you can!

Vacation week is perfectly timed this year or else it’s the daffs that are right on time. No matter if you think that spring is early or late this year, it’s surely happening now. And it’s Garden Bloggers Bloom Day (hosted by gracious Carol of May Dreams Gardens)! It’s all blooms all the time from now until Christmas and here’s a little taste of what’s open: First and foremost, the Daffodils. Probably 60% are open — I think all of the ‘Ice Follies’ are showing and we think, depending entirely on the weather, we should be at 98% (that’s peak!) by early next week. And the show will go on barring tempests, freezes or scorchers — then, of course all bets are off. So come when you can! You’ll also see these other things blooming today if you’re on the lookout:

Sharp leaved hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba) in the Rock Garden,

Lungwort (Pulmonaria augustifolia azurea) camouflaged with the Scilla also in the Rock Garden,

Another Lungwort (Pulmonaria sacchorata ‘Mrs. Moon’) in the Rock Garden,

Narcissus ‘Ice Follies’ in the Water Garden,

Dawn viburnum (Viburnum x bodnantense) on the path between the Bosquet and the Water Garden,

And check out the Katsuras (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) blooming!

I almost hesitate to show the weeping katsura blooms up close (they’re a little pornagraphic don’t you think? - Maybe sensual is a better word. I’m having a Georgia O’Keefe moment…)

And did you notice? - There are some new decorations on the left hand side bar. The first one is Blotanical and if you don’t already know about this terrific site, take a look. It’s all garden blogs - and blooms - all the time from all over the world and placed so handily at your very fingertips. You can search by location and see if any of your neighbors have opened their gardens to the public. The site was developed by a genius Aussie named Stuart who you might have met in our comments box from time to time . (Maybe one of these days he’ll visit us in the flesh! I think he should make a point of visiting all of us garden bloggers…)

And we’ve also decided to join the commercial world and have made room for an Amazon ad. Our hope is that anytime you need, want, desire something from Amazon.com, you’ll stop by the blog first (and don’t we all order from Amazon occasionally? - it’s just so conveeeenient). By clicking on our link and following through with a purchase, Amazon will send us a commission. It’s one of the very easiest ways to make a donation. Of course if you’d like to make an actual tax deductible donation please click here! I will try to keep the Amazon ad interesting by posting our favorite books - which just happen to be available for purchase!

Happy Bloom Day everyone (and happy shopping!)

I think gardeners as a rule don’t beat around the bush. We’re more likely to dish the dirt. And what’s the point of sugar coating when our world is already so delicious? I haven’t yet met a gardener who isn’t vociferously opinionated and fickle as a five year old. And it takes one to know one! We have to have a clear idea of what we like in order to find focus in our gardens - nevermind that what we like changes with the season if not daily. And although we tend to be grounded and realistic about what we can accomplish, we definitely shoot for the moon sometimes. A gentleman came into the greenhouse today and cheerfully told me that he planted 200 daffodils last fall and only 3 came up. I’d guess that like most gardeners I know, he was braced for failure the moment he planted those bulbs and has already moved on to the next thing - which happened to be a meander through our efforts. (Or, like most gardeners, he tells a good story.) And don’t we love to share?

We want to tell the absolute sugar-free truth about our gardens and enjoy nothing better than comparing notes. What do you love today? I can tell you that daffodils aren’t my personal favorite flower. Except that they absolutely are. I especially love this one at my house which I’m almost as proud of as the thousands blooming today in the Bosquet. But I’m also head over heels in love with all of the other things that are blooming today - like the flowers on the Camperdown Elm (Ulmus glabra ‘Camperdownii’).

I’ll show more of my fickle favorites tomorrow for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day which falls on the 15th of every month. I met another gardener today and when I asked her if this was her first visit to Blithewold she said, “Yes - but it’s not my last!” No beating around the bush - and no doubt she’ll have different faves and raves next time too.

The weather this past weekend wasn’t as awful as predicted and steamy sun on Saturday unfolded more daffodils in the Bosquet. And with sunny days in the forecast for this vacation week, we’re likely to get pretty close to full disclosure. I’ll keep telling it like it is! (But don’t take my word for it - come see for yourself)

I got a full dose of vitamin D yesterday - I think everyone here did. It was our first short-sleeve warm sunny day and it seemed like the world was out taking deep sips. I know that I should have been suited up in a wide brimmed hat with plenty of brand new sunscreen slathered on every exposed inch but covered up was the last thing I wanted to be (though modesty precluded a striptease). There’s plenty of debate between getting our vitamin D from the sun vs. getting skin cancer from the same exposure and call me a vitamin D junkie but yesterday I got my fix and went home with an (un)healthy glow. What is it about the sun this time of year that can make you feel so great? It was softly warm and totally energizing. I’ve read that vitamin D isn’t linked to mood - though after years feeling S.A.D.D. in the dimly lit Pacific Northwest I have to think that it’s doing something to improve my outlook - maybe just knowing my calcium absorption rate is improved makes me feel livelier…

Whatever it was (the sun, the heat, the birds’ chatter) made me feel ready to go,go,go but we have reached that limbo stage in spring that is actually perfectly timed with the soft days. The gardens are tidy and ready and we’ve got a couple-week lull before the frenzy of spring and early summer planting. It’s not as if there aren’t chores to take care of right now but they’re not particularly taxing yet (no pun intended for those of you against the deadline). Now is when we concentrate on getting the greenhouse inhabitants groomed and ready for their eventual move outside (the Camellias are already out!) and we transplant hundreds of seedlings - more fastidious, deliberately sedate work is hard to come by. If you haven’t started a feeding schedule for your houseplants, now’s definitely the time. Give them their vitamins on the next sunny day along with a thorough check-up and groom session. And get yourself outside (as if you need convincing!). But if you’ve finished spring cleaning the garden (have you finished?) and are energetically wondering what’s next, take a walk. So much of gardening is noticing and there are definitely times of year when we get so focused on the doing of gardening that we might (I speak for myself at least) forget to notice. The peepers are back; The ospreys were right on time; there are bees in the scilla - have you noticed? I also love (and you know this about me already - now is when I start to repeat myself) to look up close at everything this time of year. There’s something so amazing about the little things.

From a distance the red maples are a hillside haze of red - up close they are garnet ornaments.

In the lull of the next couple of weeks, take your vitamins in the form of daffodil solar flares (even if daffs aren’t your thing, don’t they make you feel a little bit happy?) and a skyward gaze at the buds in trees. Yesterday’s warmth encouraged a few more daffodils to open - the Bosquet is not completely carpeted yet but its throw rugs are gorgeous. The weekend weather is forecast to be pretty dirty but don’t let a little rain and wind stop you from getting out and coming here. We’ve got displays in the house (check out Bessie’s awesome hats) and a great view into the Bosquet from the living room.

I think most gardeners don’t need to be reminded to stop and smell the proverbial roses. But according to this Pulitzer Prize winning article written last year by Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post, a lot of people are too busy for roses - even when the roses are world class violinists. Over a thousand people at a Washington D.C. subway stop were freely serenaded by Joshua Bell, the most fabulous hot ticket violinist ($100 for a nosebleed seat) playing his multi-million dollar actual Stradivari - and all but 7 or so commuters walked right by! It makes me take inventory of what would stop me in my tracks. — What do you brake for?

We often talk about how to entice the thousands of people who drive 40 mph along Ferry Road every day to stop here. Last fall we drilled holes for Daffodils in the entrance bed, I’ve planted a pot, we have a big sign and you can see glimpses of much of the meticulously tended property from the road. But those things might only be noticeable to those of us who are already on the lookout. Blithewold, especially in spring (and summer, fall and winter) is playing its Strad. And all we can do is hope that a few out of the thousands decide that “busy” is for the bees and take some time to pause and smell the roses - or the the stinking hellebores Helleborus foetidus (the leaves are pungent when crushed) and the Skunk cabbage (Lysichiton). You’d never notice the Tulipa ‘Johann Strauss’ from the road and you would totally miss the flowerless but stunning view of a sun patch on the great lawn. And let’s not forget the daffodils. You might get a peek from the road but you’ve got to come in to see that more and more have opened up in the last couple of days. It’s too bad our opening weekend looks rainy but the show will go on and on. Watch the weather - more sunny days means more blooms and cool nights will encourage them to take their time. -Hope you come and take your time too!

I predict that this year the daffodils will open. I really think they will! As a matter of fact, some of them have already opened! Every year Blithewold officially opens its doors for the season during the peak daffodil bloom. Or thereabouts. And every year we all try to predict when the majority of the 50,000 will be open so that visitors who travel great distances to see the Bosquet in its famous glory won’t be disappointed.

If we could press a button (I picture it as a bright yellow knob that could be smacked with the flat of the palm - or as a giant on/off toggle that could be thrown ceremoniously like a cartoon electric switch) we’d turn them on on a Friday afternoon before a sunny weekend in the exact middle of April. But we gardeners know that flowers open only when they’re good and ready not because we’re standing over them shouting “Go!”. And although some of us aren’t above peeling open a bud to “help it along”, that isn’t a recommended method for coaxing thousands of daffodils. We have to be patient and at Blithewold we cross our fingers too. If the daffs open too early, their admirers won’t be on the ball to enjoy them; too late and they’ll miss the party thrown in their honor.

I can’t say yet when the peak will be this year - predicting that with any accuracy is something only God and Julie can do. I just want to make sure nobody misses anything. The best thing to do is get yourself a membership and start taking Blithewold walks now even if you have to wear ear muffs and galoshes. Watch the weather - the sun is supposed to come out this week which will no doubt inspire a few more buds to unwrap and the night temperatures are still in the 30’s which should ensure that the blooms rest open like they would in a florist’s fridge.

And whether or not you time your timing to be dazzled by daffs during your visit to Blithewold, there are other things to notice too. Look for spring and find it in the Autumn Cherry,

fattly budded quince and forsythia, the Cornelian Cherry,

and adorable pleated baby leaves of the Siebold viburnum.

Are you planning a road trip to see a daffodil show? Ours or someone else’s? Will you wait (with bated breath) for the peak bloom or see what you see when you see it?