Thoughtful musings on various topics by interesting people at Blithewold

Old and New Favorites for the Summer Garden

In January, when planning our designs for the gardens on the cold winter’s days, Betsy, Joe and I look for interesting new plants that we feel visitors would appreciate. Our winter plant hunts in the … Read more.

Color Theory Part II – North Garden

Last week I wrote about color theory and our color choices for the Rose Garden. Today I want to highlight the more formal North Garden, which is looking prettier every day! There is a long … Read more.

Color Theory

One of the very first things we decide each year is the color scheme for the gardens. We debate and plan and finally develop a concept that will work for the growing year. Color is … Read more.

Quiet Thyme

Every garden begins with a dream. For us, the dream for what we now call the Garden of Hope began several years ago. We knew that we wanted to create a garden that would inspire … Read more.

Showers and flowers

April showers (and May showers and June showers) bring lots of flowers!  Yes, I know it’s been a chilly spring full of rainy days and nights, but all the rain is a blessing to our … Read more.

Dreamy dahlias

Happy autumn!  The light shifts and the nights get cooler, but there is still so much color here in the gardens.  A lot of that color comes from dahlias and sages (Salvia spp.), which are … Read more.

Color vision

  Every once in a while, the plans we make for a garden turn out just as we hoped.  That perfection doesn’t happen quite as often as I would like, but the unpredictable factor in … Read more.

Garden fireworks

Happy Fourth of July weekend!  It’s that time of the summer when we finally begin to take a step back from our full-speed-ahead mode of May and June.  Just when Gail, Sean (our intern this … Read more.

Springing into action

Despite the wretched weather this week, we ushered in May with a flurry of activity.  The volunteers helped us pot up 100 dahlias in preparation for planting out in the gardens next month.  They also … Read more.

North Garden inventory

I’m asked often enough to name my favorite plant and season that it’s a little strange that hardly anyone* ever asks which is my favorite garden. Not that I could possibly pick a favorite (the pollinator garden). But since I … Read more.