The Providential Gardener

Blithewold ~ A Rhode Island Treasure ~ Centennial Celebrations in 2008

Rhode Island is full of great places to explore and fascinating things to do, and I just can't keep up with it all! Much of my time these days is going into growing the comprehensive union Calendar of environment-related events called What Grows On in Rhode Island; yet I've got quite a backlog of ideas for Providential Gardener blog posts. The ones on the top of the list concern Bristol, RI ~ Blithewold and Coggeshall Farm. Here's Blithewold!

Blithewold's history is fascinating. It was the subject recently of a Providence Journal article in the Business section ~ finding good approaches in the mansion's management to Rhode Island's economic woes ~ see John Kostrzewa's Gloomy forecast hides state's potential, January 6, 2008. Its beautiful gardens are documented nearly every day in one the Rhode Island's best blogs, The Garden Blog. This is a journal that records what the gardeners see and do in the mansion's fabulous gardens along the shores of Narragansett Bay. If you live near Bristol or have the same climate, you have a great garden mentor ~ just follow along with what they do and your garden will thrive. Blithewold also offers many gardening workshops as well. 

I am delighted to present in its entirety Barbara Gee's wonderful description of Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum today. Barbara recently published The Rhode Island Gardener's Companion, a must-have for Rhode Islanders who love their gardens.

As you probably know there aren’t many botanical gardens in the U.S. that lay claim to a historic landscape and that are celebrating 100 years. This 2008 Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum in Bristol, RI, will be taking the year to celebrate its Centennial. Not only is this a commemorative year for Blithewold but an important milestone in American history, particularly that of Rhode Island. Blithewold’s rich history is woven into the fabric of life in its home state and throughout the region. 30 years ago, the house and grounds opened to the public. 10 years ago a group of concerned members united to raise funds and save the property from being sold for private development.

In a state as beautiful as Rhode Island Blithewold ranks as one of the largest tourist attractions in the state, attracting 32,000 visitors a year.

The sum of the mansion, gardens and arboretum is greater than the parts, and yet the gardens and arboretum stand alone as a wonderful horticultural resource to be visited in all the seasons. A staggering number of daffodils - 50,000 to be exact - appear to herald the early spring each year, and when the leaves fall from the more than 1,500 exotic and native trees the grounds blaze with color. The towering grove of bamboo, Phyllostachys aureosulcata ‘Golden Groove’, covers an area nearly the size of a tennis court and becomes a magnet for children and adults alike. The huge display gardens overwhelm visitors with a lavish array of flowers, many of which are cut for use in the house. The elegantly designed Rock Garden nestles beside the water’s edge flanked by The Oriental Water Garden and a sweeping 10-acre lawn that rolls down to the bay. It is one of two on the property.

And this is just a taste of what Blithewold has to offer the gardening enthusiast.

To celebrate Blithewold’s Centennial many events will be held throughout the year. Attached is press information from Sandra Carney, 2008 Events Coordinator, that will fill you in on some of the events.

Download blithewold_centennial_pr.doc

Please feel free to contact Sandra to answer any questions and provide further information. If you haven’t already visited Blithewold please do. If you want a personal tour let her know and she will arrange that. You can also learn more about Blithewold by visiting the website: www.blithewold.org

Sandi can be reached by email scarney1@cox.net or (401) 247-4220.

Photo’s to be credited, please, as follows: the aerial shot – John Corbett; the garden view – Kristin Green.

Warm regards,

Barbara

Barbara Gee  ~~  Writer & Author
Business & Corporate, Marketing & PR, Technical, Creative, the Web
Contributor, Yankee Magazine, Newport Life, RI Home, Living & Design...
Rhode Island Editor, People, Places & Plants - the Northeast Gardener's Magazine
Titles published for Globe Pequot Press:

  ~~ The Rhode Island Gardener's Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening in the Ocean State
     ~~ The Massachusetts Gardener's Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening from the Berkshires to the Islands
   
728 Bristol Ferry Road, Portsmouth, RI 02871
T.   401-683-0367  /  C. 401-297-9266  / www.barbaragee.com

Rhode Island's Eco-Blogging Scene: PostCarbon Rhode Island

This morning I heard from PostCarbon Rhode Island, a new blog that entered the world just three days after 2008, on January 3. It's a great website with info on efforts to deal with energy and natural resource issues locally in South County. Looks like they are doing some reverse globalization, taking national-level resources and using them for local good.

They focus on sustainability and "relocalization":

Building on the models established by groundbreaking organizations worldwide, we hope to serve as a clearinghouse of information, a means of networking, and an organizing hub for those who share a sense of urgency in these endeavors.

The author writes,

...we have been approved as a new member of Post Carbon Institute's Relocalization Network, a worldwide network of more than 150 groups working in the areas of relocalization planning. Our efforts with our group are still in the early stages...

Several of the posts are about starting a community garden or gardens in South Kingstown, which I'm sure would interest many folks around there. Community gardens are sprouting up all over the place. If anyone else knows of other people cultivating such ideas, please let me know! I stumbled onto Sustainable Sakonnet a couple of weeks ago, which shares similar interests with PostCarbon Rhode Island; how many more Rhode Islanders are blogging away out there on environmental topics?

Here are some other sustainability and garden blogs that are based in Rhode Island. You know, using Google and the other search engines is simply not an efficient way to find focused local information ~ they're better at the big picture and finding leads. The rich information sources are what librarians call the "hidden web," the stuff within websites that is never indexed by the search engines. Blogs show up better in Google searches than regular web pages, but still it helps to have local folks organizing local information. This is especially true in gardening because of the variations in climate and ecosystems.

When you need local information, start with Rhode Island-based blogs:

    Primarily gardening info:

• Blithewold Blog ~ A fabulous journal recording the Blithewold gardens in Bristol, RI
• Earth Friendly Gardening ~ A beautifully presented and fascinating garden blog
• Ledge and Gardens ~ Another fabulous journal recording a Northern RI garden
• Projo Garden Blog ~ "What's growing in RI gardens and how"

Eco/environmental blogs, some of which may also have gardening info:

• Baykeeper Blog ~ Save the Bay
• Controlling Carbon ~ A RISD blog
• Natural News Network Blog
• PostCarbon Rhode Island
• Projo Energy Blog
• Sustainable Agriculture @ URI
• Sustainable Sakonnet

Sustainable Sakonnet

Happy New Year!

I love starting fresh at the beginning of the year, and The Providential Gardener has high hopes for the future of the garden called Rhode Island that we all share and tend. There's a lot of work to do, but each year there are more people pitching in.

One example is a blog that began in February 2007 called Sustainable Sakonnet: "Bringing the citizens of Tiverton and Little Compton, Rhode Island, together to create a more environmentally sustainable community for today and tomorrow." I've added Sustainable Sakonnet to my blogroll.

The author, Bill Gerlach, has a background in marketing and communications. And he has a vision for his community and his neighbors, challenging them to think what  Sakonnet towns need to be truly sustainable. He says,

...it is up to individuals and communities to take the lead in shaping a better future. We cannot wait for others to lead; it is up to us to take up that helm with gusto and determination.

Couldn't agree more. I don't think there can be enough blogs and citizens proactively speaking up and taking initiative however they can to bring some sense to our out-of-whack world. Some people can work most effectively on the local level: it would be great to see more bloggers focused on environmental/ecological/sustainable issues particular to each town ~ or for the larger towns and cities, individual neighborhoods. This requires complementing by more general sites, some of which cover particular aspects of importance to the whole state, and others of which focus on different types of information. The more the better in my view. There are so many entry points into the vital issues of caring for our state's natural resources. Different people approach things differently, and no one website can possibly fill all the needs.

You might want to see these and other posts in Sustainable Sakonnet:

• Sustainable Energy Takes the First Step
• Green Building: Where is Our Planner Now?
• Tube For Tuesday: Saving the Landfill One Diaper at a Time
• Greening Our Schools
• Protected Farmland + ? = Secure Local Food System
• Help Set the Environmental Agenda at the State House
• Planning for the Future

Announcing a New Sprout ~ What Grows On in Rhode Island Blog

The Providential Gardener's first sprout is a new blog, What Grows On in Rhode Island!
 

So many meeting announcements and press releases are arriving that I think it will be better to give them their own special place. So meeting announcements that would have been listed here will now be there. Check it out!

• About What Grows On in Rhode Island

Local Garden Blogs and Master Gardeners

The Providential Gardener is interested in all things Green (I mean, literally ~ the stuff with roots) in Rhode Island, so it's great to see some other blogs by Rhode Islanders that post about gardening. (see list at end of this post, and also the Blogroll on the left side).

It's important to read LOCAL blogs on gardening first, because accurate gardening advice depends on the local climate, rainfall, soil, and other factors that vary from region to region. Your neighbors' gardens have the same problems and features that your garden has. This photo is of my rock garden, by the way.

And don't forget to bookmark the URI Master Gardener website!

It's technically not a blog, but everyone should also know about the Master Gardeners' website. It is full of great LOCAL info for gardeners in Rhode Island. Each month they feature one of the Master Gardener projects (on June 3, 2007 it's the Center for Senior Services in Wakefield), and they discuss things to do and what's currently happening in Rhode Island gardens. Also remember, the Master Gardeners have a hotline answered by experienced gardeners sitting near a wall of gardening reference books, Monday through Thursday, from 9am to 2pm: 1-800-448-1011 (this is a free call from anywhere in Rhode Island). You can also email them with your questions.

These local gardening blogs are in my Blogroll:

• Earth Friendly Gardening focuses on "Sustainable Gardening for a Healthy Planet
• Blithewold's Blog reports on tending the mansion's gardens
• ProJo Garden Blog describes "What's Growing in Rhode Island Gardens ~ and How"
• Natural News Blog covers literal and figurative Green.

Do you know of other blogs on Rhode Island gardening? Send links to The Providential Gardener!

About Condensed Events from the Providential Gardener

I am developing a comprehensive, integrated quick list by date of everything interesting to The Providential Gardener in or near Rhode Island. I'm including activities of both large and small organizations. I love impossible missions! This project began in late January 2007, and the first phase will aim to fill in February and March as quickly as possible, as well as include dates of major events happening later in the year.

Why Condensed Events?

• Individuals can check each week for cool, earthy things to do and see around the state.
• Smaller groups can reach a wider audience with news about their activities.
• Groups can check to see what is scheduled when ~ maybe they can find ways to collaborate.
• Groups can plan dates that don't conflict with major events.

Meanwhile, click through the list below of some of the larger, more active organizations in Rhode Island that plan public workshops, tours, shows, and other events. These are the core sites from which I'm compiling Condensed Events. I'm not interested in duplicating the work of others, but I rather strive to make it easier for Rhode Islanders to work together for the good of our collective garden, our state.

Events, Meetings Links

• Farm Fresh RI - Events
• Blitheworld Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum Education Programs & Events
• Healthy Landscapes
• Master Gardeners Event List
• Natural News Network Calendar
• ProJo Environmental Journal
• RI Farmers' Market Schedule
• RI Federation of Garden Clubs Events
• RI Tree Programs
• RIWPS Events & Education
• RI Rose Society Meetings
• URI Master Gardener Community Events

An Experiment in Blogging an Events Calendar

Although it's sometimes too cold to be outside in a Rhode Island winter ~ as today, with a projected high of 11 degrees Farenheit ~ gardeners never stop gardening, resorting to imaginative and future gardening when down-and-dirty gardening is impossible. They spend the cold winter days studying  seed catalogs and drawing up garden plans. But I'm also finding that they are planning all sorts of events for the entire year. And LOTS of them.

The Providential Gardener reports upcoming events, as do many other websites and print publications. However, organizing these events so that everyone can find what they are looking for is quite a challenge. I think there should be multiple views and entry points,

Happy New Year!

Best wishes to Rhode Island's Growing Community from the Providential Gardener!

It takes time to grow a garden, to grow a forest, to restore the shoreline's natural vegetation. And it takes time to grow a weblog. I hope 2007 is a lush and productive year for you. The Providential Gardener will be growing in the coming months, and I hope your gardens will bloom and prosper as well.

One of these days, we will have a proper winter here in New England. Instead of turning brown, my lawn has actually been growing in December. I'm wondering if I ought to mow it again. It was amazing that it needed mowing around Thanksgiving. I don't have a lot of grass, but I like having some to contrast with the gardens. My general plan for my own yard is to reduce the grass area gradually, replacing it with perennial gardens that don't require much maintenance. What are your plans for the part of the earth that you tend?

Happy New Year! Keep growing.... Sue Korté

Other Gardening Blogs

Some people have been blogging about gardens for more than four years! Sheila Lennon at the Providence Journal has been compiling a list of gardening blogs that's worth checking out. Also note one of our reader's enthusiastic recommendation for Garden Rant. Many of these blogs are personal reflections on gardening and you may really enjoy reading some of them. Browse the links on these sites and find kindred spirits.

Gardening Blogs

There are probably many wonderful Gardening blogs out there besides Rhode Island's Earth Friendly Gardening and this blog, The Providential Gardener, and I'd love to hear of your favorites. While on the Town & Country Tour of the RI Wild Plant Society a couple of weekends ago, I heard of Amy Stewart's blog, Dirt. I was checking it out this evening ~ it has just moved to Typepad ~ and I'm adding it to my BlogRoll ~ blogs that I read frequently related to The Providential Gardener. Get down to Dirt! Note also that Earth Friendly Gardening has a BlogRoll of Gardening blogs in the right-hand column.

P.S. Especially remind me or tell me about Rhode Island blogs in the scope of the Providential Gardener! Many thanks!