Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold

Spring’s returns

Whether or not you got your taxes in on time, spring is sending out huge returns right this minute. As a gardener I have paid close enough attention to spring that I really shouldn’t ever … Read more.

Spring update, April 5

Daffodil Days start tomorrow and I’m thrilled to report that some daffodils (and a few other spring ephemerals) have arrived early for the festivities. And thousands more are on their way… Every hour from now … Read more.

Spring carpets

Why is it that a pack full of seedlings is a thrilling thing and a carpet of seedlings in the garden is alarming? I once got in big trouble with a friend for bringing teasel … Read more.

Cue Spring!

Everybody has a different cue for letting ourselves admit that it’s finally spring. For some of us (me), spring officially begins when we sow the sweet peas (back around President’s Day). Others might notice spring … 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.

Unpredictable

Yesterday a reporter from one of the local papers called to ask about the daffodils. She wondered when they would bloom; are they early; how long would they last; and what comes next? A very … Read more.

Adaptations

Nature has her own ways of doing things and her own timing. There’s no predicting it. — It hadn’t occurred to us last August when we ordered bulbs that squirrels would be acorn deprived and … Read more.

The first daff is the sweetest

A little yellow goes a long way at the beginning of the daffodil season. ‘Little Gem’ in the moongate bed is always the first of our daffs to bloom. (The ones pictured below are an … Read more.

Memory book portraits

The to-do list might be difficult to prioritize right now that everything needs doing, but when the faces all around us look lovely and the light is just right, the best (if not the number … Read more.

Picking up the pace

This spring is feeling exactly like one of those Jack-in-the-box wind-up toys. The crank handle has been winding … winding … winding … winding until just when I gave up really expecting it anymore, it … Read more.