Allium Christophii

Deze grote paarse bollen zouden tussen de geranium in de tuin wel mooi staan, maar staan zoals zoveel planten hier bij ons in een pot. Ook wel sterrenlook genoemd, is het een heel opvallende alliumsoort, deze Allium Christophii. Omdat de gewone met kleinere paarse bollen alliumsoorten het zowel in de tuin als in een pot helemaal niet goed deden, had ik vorige herfst drie van deze sterrenlook bollen geplant in een pot, niet in de tuin want naar ik las kan deze sierui niet tegen wintervocht en dat is er in onze tuin volop. In elk geval hebben de Allium Christophii de winter in hun pot goed overleefd en loof was er al vlug te zien. Tegen dat de stelen gegroeid waren en de bloem eindelijk begon te bloeien, sterretje na sterretje, was het loof zelfs al helemaal verfomfaaid en besloot ik wat Zinnia te zaaien tussen de stengels door. Intussen zijn dat nog maar kleine groene sprietels. Het is dus afwachten of dit zal lukken. Wat warmere temperaturen zouden denk ik welkom zijn. In elk geval laat ik de sterrenlook gewoon verder in de pot zitten en hopelijk overleeft die nog een winter en volgend jaar weer bloemen, dat zou mooi zijn. Bovendien zijn de bloemen eens uitgebloeid en gedroogd ook mooi naar het schijnt. 

Ook de bijen zijn blij met deze bloem in de tuin, of in een pot!

Marian

The garden now

Happy first day of Summer everyone. It feels more like an Autumn day here with rain and wind and temperatures that haven't really been high enough over the last month. The rain is welcome though because even though it hasn't been warm enough for this time of year, we didn't get any rain for a loooong time, never happened as far as I can remember. The grass was turning from green into yellow and looked more like straw and I had to water the border, as well as the many potted plants I have, even if there's not much going on in the garden right now, but still, I wouldn't want to jeopardize what is going on there. Also I have sowed some things I think might not mind the shade and the not so terrific conditions in our garden but that's still a wait and see. Anyway, there's a big cloud of pink going on now in the garden, called Geranium Endressii and I took some photos to share with you. Nothing much maybe but well, it's something and I'm glad with it.

A cloud of little pink flowers with some green seedpods from Columbines

sticking out above them here and there

Not a garden to pick colourful bouquets

but I'm already glad there's something blooming

and colourful going on,

even if it's all one and the same thing.

Someone told me our garden looks very peaceful,

and that's also a way to look at it I guess.

So what's going on in your garden at the moment?

Marian

Roses in containers

Join me for a peek at the roses in my container garden?

Here we go!

 Munstead Wood

Pastella

 Schneewittchen

Marie Curie

Nostalgie

 Bailando

Rhapsody in blue

 Leersum 700. 

 Scarborough fair

Burgundy Ice.

 Wife of Bath 

 Group picture

 Marie Curie on the foreground, Nostalgie in the back

Leersum 700 

Munstead Wood and Wife of Bath

Schneewittchen

With the Columbines done blooming in the garden and the Dahlia's and Anemones not
blooming in their containers yet, the roses are really stealing the show now.




Have a beautiful day!






Marian

Flower fields in Holland

As promised, with summer on the doorstep, one last look back at springtime in Holland last April. 

 After we visited Keukenhof, we decided to drive around in the immediate surroundings and see if we could find any flower fields blooming.

And we could! As in Keukenhof, the flowers that were blooming abundantly on the fields were the Hyacinths. 

The scent those fields were spreading was amazing.

We found fields full of  Daffodils as well.

Most of the fields with tulips we found were only just beginning to show some colour. 

These fields with double tulips in different colours must have looked amazing in full bloom.

But here's a bright red field of tulips we did see in full bloom.

Imagine how many tulip bulbs must have been planted here.

It is such a pretty view isn't it?

Hope you enjoyed this Holland series of pictures.

Next time I hope to show you some pictures 

of the roses in my container garden.

I have a question about that for all you rose lovers and connoisseurs.

There are two of my roses that look completely healthy,

with beautiful green leaves, normal size and everything,

but they just don't bloom and haven't formed any flower buds sofar.

What is wrong? I treat them the same way as my other roses.

Any ideas are more than welcome.

I have been thinking of cutting them back but is that a good idea?

Or should I just keep feeding them and wait?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Have a lovely weekend all!

Marian

Spring at Keukenhof gardens ~ part two

Keukenhof as we saw it last April.

The Japanese garden.

Despite the vibrant colours, this garden has a sense of harmony and peacefulness, 

so different from the rest of the gardens. I loved it.

Anemones with a magic touch, the first picture I took after entering Keukenhof gardens,
after I had been overwhelmed first by the colours, the diversity and the sheer amount of flowers everywhere.

Such pretty and extraordinary daffodils

 

.

More magic in the woodland gardens, and familiar looking flowers as well.

Poet's daffodil, always been one of my favourites.

Such elegance.

Magic in the trees.

The sun did come out to play for just a second.

This is just a small part of the enormous variety of Spring flowers you could find at Keukenhof this year. Keukenhof looks different every year and always works around a theme, this year's theme was Vincent Van Gogh, as this year it's 125 years ago Vincent Van Gogh died.

It's clear a lot of work goes into creating and maintaining these

wonderful gardens.

The colour palette is amazing.

There's a surprise behind every corner.

Really loved this blue flower field.
Something I'd love to recreate in smaller proportions next Spring.

A view on the flower fields and the area around Keukenhof.

The hyacinths were really stealing the show
at the time we visited Keukenhof,
so it's only fair to end this series of
pictures with hyacinths,
here in different shades of purple,
one of my favourite colours.


In next post, I'll show you the flower fields we saw in
the direct surroundings of Keukenhof.


Have a lovely day!
It's supposed to be a really warm day here
and then a thunderstorm to end it with.
One of those typical Belgian 'end of Spring' weeks,
starting off with Autumnlike weather, ending with
hot Summer weather and then a thunderstorm
to level it all out again. Not the best thing
for the roses though. Think I might cut some
to protect them from being battered just as they
start to bloom.


Enjoy your weekend!




Marian