Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold
Color after Labor Day
It’s not my intention with this post to brag but we’ve still got a lot of color in the gardens. So many visitors seem surprised by that – and as shocked as if we were … Read more.
Life of the party
Some plants provide entertainment for the whole season and others just don’t and I sometimes have to try very hard to remember why we give clunkers space in the gardens. Campanula lactiflora or Milky bellflower … Read more.
Vacation house
I think it’s because I work here year-round that I tend to forget that Blithewold was built as a summer retreat. The Van Wickle/McKee family came up from Pennsylvania and later down from Boston and … Read more.
Oopsie daisy
It could happen to anyone. Even the “professionals” get it a little bit wrong sometimes … sometimes in a pretty big way. Last week when I discovered a rather substantial error in mistaken identity that … 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.
Plants are my favorite people
It was Lilah’s suggestion when she first saw the sea of pink peony poppies (voted Most Flirtatious) in full bloom in the Cutting Garden that I do a Superlatives post. Since I spent high school … Read more.
Wildacre
What is it about someone else’s garden that can make even ordinary plants look extra special and precious? Once a month or so during the summer, Blithewold offers a great treat called an Intimate Garden … 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.
They’re listening
I like to think that encouragement and praise is the best method for inspiring productivity but must admit that threats and criticism can be pretty effective as well. Spite is such an excellent motivator. Don’t … Read more.