North Garden
The terrace, porches, and plantings surrounding the mansion anchor it into the landscape, as does the North Garden. This formal garden is a living extension of the mansion itself. Blithewold’s landscape architect John DeWolf designed and constructed the garden between 1910 and 1911.
The North Garden replaced what had been a gentle slope from the house to the Great Lawn. Its three stone walls and twin sets of stone steps create an intimate space that borrows the views of the sweeping lawns and broad vistas to Narragansett Bay. Fountains and pools add to the sense of closeness as they mask the sounds outside the garden.
Deep borders frame a lawn the size of a tennis court—the perfect location for a wedding ceremony, or quiet contemplation with easel and watercolors. Children enjoy the mosaic of stones within the small pool and the stepping-stones into the wooded Bosquet beyond.
The garden is in bloom from May to frost in a quiet palette of blues, yellows, pinks and white. Shrubs such as the ballerina rose, limelight hydrangea, and climbing hydrangea on the walls provide a framework for the garden; perennials such as lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis), catmint (Nepeta sp.), false indigo (Baptisia australis), anemones, phlox, hardy geraniums, leadwort (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) set the stage for tender perennials and annuals, such as Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’, dahlias, zinnias and ageratum which carry the show into the fall.
North Garden Plants listed in order of bloom time, Spring to Fall
Daffodils
Scilla
Erythronium (Trout lily, Dog’s-tooth violet)
Tulips 2007: 'City of Vancouver'
'Creme Upstar'
'Burgundy'
Phlox divaricata (Woodland phlox)
Trollius ‘Lemon Queen’(Globeflower)
Centaurea montana (Perennial bachelor’s button)
Amsonia hubrectii
Amsonia tabernaemontana
Amsonia orientalis
Peony ‘Bowls of Cream’
Iris siberica ‘Butter and Sugar’
Geranium ‘Rozanne’
Alchemilla mollis (Lady’s mantle)
Campanula latifolia
Baptisia australis (False indigo)
Nepeta faasenii
Kalimeris integrifolia
Salvia ‘Blue Hill’
Iris ensata
Lavandula ‘Grosso’
Rosa ‘Ballerina’
Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepatoides
Hemerocallis (Daylily)
Kirengoshoma koreana
Verbascum
Veronica longifolia
Ageratum ‘Blue Horizon’
Perovskia (Russian sage)
Gaura ‘So White’
Salvia guaranitica
Stachys coccinea
Phlox paniculata ‘David’
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Hydrangea ‘Limelight’
Aster frikartii ‘Monch’
Caryopteris
Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’
Dahlia ‘Sneezy’
Dahlia ‘Sympathy’
Pentas lanceolata
Senecio viravira
Anemone ‘Andrea Atkinson’
Aster oblongifolius ‘October Skies’
Aster laevis ‘Bluebird’
Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield'
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Sunday, February 12
Sailor’s Valentine Party -
Friday, February 17
For the Love of Jazz and Chocolate -
Monday, February 20
- Friday, February 24
Blithewold February Vacation Camp
Upcoming events
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Spring tease
(Jan 30, '12)
It’s still January for at least for another day or so, but it looks strangely an awful lot like mid-February – or even March here and there, and feels about the same. My brain thinks that means that May is right around the corner. But it isn’t. Not by a long shot. We can’t have ... -
FEBRUARY 1904 – EGYPT
(Feb 01, '12)
FEBRUARY 1904 – EGYPT February 1st 1904 found Marjorie and her chaperone Miss Helen Macartnay steaming south toward the old historic city of Luxor, site of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes. Arriving in the evening, they moored directly beneath … Continue reading
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