Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold

Keepers

Temperatures dipped into the 30s last night but if only it would frost we’d feel justified in having taken the gardens apart this week. The Rose Garden might have the hardest to let go of, … Read more.

Critiquing the North Garden

There are always things we want to change about every garden. Plants we want to move. Plants we want to remove. New plants we want to plant. We don’t just want the gardens to change … Read more.

What’s at stake

I used to really enjoy the challenge of staking top-heavy plants in such a way that their crutches were as invisible as possible but this year, maybe because the ground is dry enough to make … Read more.

Dahlia experiments

Whoever says that gardening is a completely stress-free (a)vocation must never plant anything let alone those plants that come with their own set of instructions. Like dahlias. For starters, dahlias are generally sold as tubers … Read more.

Batten down the hatches

Yesterday’s sky was dusted with those high flying cirrus mare’s tails and mackerel’s scales that precede a storm and the news is full of a tropical storm named for one of our groundsmen. As I … 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.

It just keeps getting better

Last night’s rain may have made a few of the daffodils face-plant but it brought out that delicious fragrance of spring that put the visual beauty almost in the background.  Almost.  I would have closed … Read more.

More decisions (and a retraction)

Our seed orders have started to come in!   I discovered though that I have to offer an official retraction of a snarky complaint in this post about Select Seeds‘ shipping charges.  Well, obviously, I … Read more.