Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold

Limbo

Given that March felt like May and April felt a little like July, it’s been really hard not to move everything outside and start planting annuals and tomatoes as if it’s safe. But then didn’t … Read more.

Spring is out of order

Which isn’t to say that anything is broken, in need of fixing. I just don’t ever remember magnolias blooming before the forsythia. Saucer magnolias are out all over town, our hedge of M. x loebneri … Read more.

Getting a move on

I can’t think of a better way to spend a record-breaking official first day of spring than playing musical plants out in the garden. At home I move plants around usually because I didn’t put … Read more.

Breaking

I know I’m going to start sounding like a broken record but I can’t help going on about how early everything is. I looked up the other day when I was walking my dog and … Read more.

Pockets of color

There has been a lot of speculation ever since Irene blew through that this wouldn’t be a good fall foliage year. Even in the days after the storm the horizon – particularly anything facing south … Read more.

The big dig

The North Garden Star Wall Project has officially begun! (The wall, 100 years old this month, will be restored this winter.) Yesterday Team Rockette dug and hauled hundreds of pounds of perennials out of the … Read more.

Days of whine and roses

Sometimes I still feel like a backseat whiner. I should know better than to complain out loud because as a kid, whenever I asked, “are we there yet?”, my Mom would only reply cryptically, “10 … Read more.

A frenzy

I think it might be safe to say that we’ve been even busier than bees in the last couple of days. And by “we” I mostly mean the garden volunteers. Gail, Tara and I placed … Read more.

Happy National Public Gardens Day!

If I had been less distracted by tulips and planting gardens this week I might have remembered to promote an excellent event that has brought all sorts of people who had never before heard of … Read more.

Baby pictures

Everybody loves babies, right? They’re so tiny and soft and fuzzy; totally precious and addictively photogenic. I am completely enamored with spring’s tiny toes and can’t get enough of (almost) all of its smells. I’m … Read more.