greenery

Aug

2019

In the garden just now

The Garden 2019. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

In the garden just now or recently you can see that it is much greener this year than last. We have had (so far) a quite normal Swedish summer. Days with rain and wind and almost chilly, hot days with lots of sun and warmth have passed. Personally I prefer the hot and sunny days, but I also appreciate the rain when it comes as that means that I don’t have to water the garden those days… It has been drier than normal though so we are forbidden to light up grills except in specially designated places.

Part of the garden 2019. Photo ©nini.tjader.2019

The grass is almost green this year and so is everything else.

By the birdbath. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The garden is a bit “wild” and unorganized at places. But that is how I like it.

One of the flowerbeds. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The tagetes planted here to keep the lice away from the rose has become much bigger than I thought it would be. The rose, presently without flowers, is without lice, but just now also without flowers. But new buds are coming so there will be flowers again. In the righthand corner is a large ruccola which I have no idea where it came from… The astilbe here just started blooming.

garden, flowerbed — One of the flowerbeds. Photo:©nini.tjader.2019

In the picture above you can see the rose.

garden, flowerbeds — The hostas and echinacea in the flowerbed along my patio. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The Echinacea Purpurea Magnus are larger than ever this year. And the grew fast. The bumblebees and the butterflies love them.

The wild wine on the bow that is the entrance to the backgarden is growing fine this year and looking good. The hollyhocks at the front flowerbed are tall as usual. Almost finished blooming now.

hollyhock, stockros, garden, flowerbeds — The dark red hollyhock. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

I have several different colors of the hollyhocks. Prevailing are the dark red ones. But there is also one yellow, one pink, one green and pink… You never know from year to year which colors they will get. When finished blooming (after several visits of the large bumblebees) I let the seeds dry on the plant. Then harvest and put them in the ground for next year. Next yer they will have leaves but no flowers. Only the year after that they will bloom.

garden, blackberries, björnbär — Blackberries 2019. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

In the flowerbed by the entrance I have a blackberry-bush. Last year and the year before it got about 2 berries… This year is looking much more promising… Not ready yet but I hope I will get enough for at least one year of blackberry-jam…

garden, blueberries, blåbär — American blueberries. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

My two bushes of American Blueberries in the backgarden also delivers this year. Sweet and large blueberries. I do nothing with them but eat them directly from the bush when they are ripe.

flowerbed, garden — The flowerbed along the outside of my patio. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The flowerbed along the outside of my patio is all filled up this time of the year. Hard to believe in the spring when you see nothing but some crocus here and the rest looks empty. The white astilbe above has bloomed out already and the echinacea is coming up behind them. The red pelargonias in the boxes along the rail are doing their thing by adding color in the garden.

The black currants delivered fine this year as well. All picked now and in the freezer.

blackcurrants, svartavinbär — Black currants 2019. Photo: ©nini.thjader.2019

Eventually they will become jam and/or a cake or so. I still have black and red currants from last year in the freezer which I will soon do something with.

And I have finally got myself a battery-charged grass-scissor for cutting the edges along the the flowerbeds. I it is a joy to use and SO much faster than a manual scissor. Love it.

grässax, grasscissor — Grass-scissor. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

wine, garden — Wine 2019. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The wine is also coming along fine this year. Long before it is ready yet, but looking promising. They do not get big, but the grapes get very sweet.

And it is already August… I wish summer would last for ever.

Jul

2019

Summertime

Birdbath. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Summertime

Summer arrived by the middle of May and went away again and then came back. Far from as hot as last year but almost as dry.

Bluebells and roses. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Summer is my preferred season. I love sun, light, the light evenings, and the warmer temperature.

Clematis Rouge Cardinal. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

By now the entire garden has come to life. But the grass is more brown than green because of the long periods of draft we have had. Rain once a week isn’t enough to keep the grass green. I water the flowerbeds and bushes, but not the grass.

Climbing Hortensia. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The climbing hortensia is blooming this year again, much to the joy of the bumble bees.

Elderbush with tagetes. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The elder bushes have bloomed. Not as much as I would have wanted but at least they bloom. They had a lot of lice as usual. A tip on FaceBook made me test an unusual way to keep the lice away from the elder bushes. To plant tagets under and around them! The first ones I planted froze just shortly after I had planted them. A sudden coldspell took them. So I grew from seed a batch of them and when ready (and frost nights no longer to be feared) planted them at first under the elder bushes. Then also in one of the flowerbeds around the rose therer.

Flowerbed. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

A border of red petunias are planted at the edge of this flowerbed. The tagetes behind them and also around the rose.

The rose “Summerwind”. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The rose “Summerwind” just started to open its flowers. We planted it last year, late summer.

Entrance to outside place from garden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

At the entrance to my patio from the garden the hollyhocks are getting bigger and bigger and whatever else grows there is hardly visible… They are also several more than last year. Not blooming yet, but soon. The wild wine and the honeysuckles cover the rose-bows that lead into the backgarden.

The backgarden

The backgarden is starting to look like an unkempt jungle. But, as it is not outside my windows, not my responsibility to take care of.

Mint and peppermint. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

What I do have in the backgarden is a bed of mint and peppermint that gets bigger for each year. It is unusually good this year. No hungry insects have eaten it yet and it hasn’t bloomed yet either.

I also have a bed of marigolds grown from seeds from last year in the spot where the old planting-box used to be. Presently surrounded by net so the cats won’t use it for their toilet…

I love gardening and to be in the garden, no matter if it is work or relaxing.

Apr

2019

Cherry Blossom Time

Cherry Blossom Time 2019. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

It is Cherry Blossom Time presently. Once a year we all (or many of us) go to Kungsträdgården (Kungsan)( in Stockholm to watch and take pictures of the cherry blossoms there when they blossom as best. I’ve been there before for that, but missed it the last couple of years. This year weather was prefect. Sunny. Warm. Everyone was there. So were a lot of Japanese for some reason, and som buddist monks. Here are some pictures from this years bloom.

Not so interested in the cherry blossoms…

All this pinkness is overwhelming.

When I was done taking pictures I walk to the other end of Kungsan (Kungsträdgården) to have a short, nostalgic look at the tea-house where I spent lots of hours with friends during several summers when I was young. The tea-house under the elm-trees looks much the same as it did then. It even looks like they still have the same chairs as they did then. Uncomfortable ones…

teahouse, kungsan, kungsträdgården — The tea-house in Kungsan. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Nov

2018

Winter is coming

Winter is coming. Frozen birdbath. Photo: ©nini-tjader.2018

Wintergarden

Winter is coming, There is no denying it. It IS coming. We have already had a couple of frostnights. We have seen the very first few snowflakes the other day. They werenät many and immediately disappeared, but they were there…

The garden through the kitchen-window, 2018-10-29. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

It has also been rainy, dark, windy… No fun at all. The darkness is the worse. Having to turn on the light indoors already in the morning and for the rest of the day is… well, depressing.

Move of plantbox

The old plantbox. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

I have moved the content of the old box in the backgarden to a new, smaller box along the fence. I didn’t want to have it here, just in the wind from the radon fan, any longer. Especially since a second tub to draw out the radon from the ground was installed there on October 31st so even more of the radon would get blown onto that area before dissolving into the air. The blueberry-bushes beside it will stay though.

New plantbox

Plants waiting for new plantbox

Old plantbox getting emptied

Where the old plantbox was

The old plantbox

Where the old box was, I have sown grass. The parsley has been harvested and is now in the freezer. I didn’t harvest the chives, but I hope it will come up again next year. The old plantbox was all rotten, which I didn’t see until I wanted to move it. So a new box was necessary. The new box turned out to be smaller than the old one so the lemon balm had to be planted outside of the box. I also had to put a smallish “fence” around the plants in the new box so the cats would go there. Alice the cat tried to before I put the small “fence” there…

Withering plants

But winter is coming and the plants are withering. November, as it is now, is a month when the garden is at its ugliest.

Autumn garden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

But there is still some life here and there. As long as it is, there are colors.

Frozen orpine. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

There has been frost some nights. The frost changes the plants. Now it is relatively warm again and no frost.

The backgarden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Autumn colors are beautiful, but…

Hosta/funkia, 2018-10-06. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Since I shot the above picture, the funkia/hosta has all withered down and is totally gone. See you in the spring next year.

Lavender and aronia. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The lavender was in bloom for its second time late in the autumn and after I replanted this one just behind the aronia. The aronia gets bright red leaves (gone now) and black berries that neither I nor the birds like… But they are decorative…

Helenium Moreheim Beauty. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The helenium Moreheim Beauty lasted longer into the autumn this year than earlier years. It still has a flower here and there… but most is gone now. The above birdbath has now been taken indoors as I don’t think the ceramics would manage the winter-cold and temperatures below zero.

Mint and peppermint. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Something that never give up is the mint and the peppermint in the backgarden. Blooming again, And growing. I have harvested and dried a lot of it, but since it has grown again. I will not harvest more now befor winter is coming.

Behind the patio. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

On the backside of the patio-fence I have a climbing hortensia growing. In the spring when we were supposed to re-oil the planks with black-pigmented oil, I didn’t do the backside as the eaves and flowers of the climbing hortensia had just come out then. I waited for the leaves to fall off in the autumn. When they did and the weather was unusually watm, I finally oiled also the backside of the plank. Went all well.

Plants moved indoors

Plants moved indoors. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

With the winter coming, plants have moved indoors to avoid the frost and the coming snow. It is MUCH too crowded. After a few weeks indoors by now, some of the plants are already thrown out as they didn’t like the indoor life.

Pelargonia bontrosai

Red basil

Pelargonia Attar of roses

Pelargonia bontrosai

Plectranthus scutellarioides

The two pelargonia bontrosai now live in the kitchen-windows as does the red basil (which re-started itself and started to bloom again in October and get new leaves). The pelargonia Attar of Roses lives in the bedroom and is HUGE. Have given away parts of it to some ladies in my gym-group. The Plectranthus scutellarioides got so tired and messy so it ended up in the waste and is no more.

livingroomwindow, livingroom, plants, indoorplants

Livingroomwindow. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Bedroomwindow, Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The pelargonias have finally stopped blooming. The leaves on the figtrees in the livingroom are falling off.

I keep throwing out plants that look just too awful after some time indoors. More will be thrown out. As for the pelargonias I take cuttings of them before they get thrown into the waste. I normally do not take cuttings in the autumn, but this year I do. They take up far too much space and look just too awful… Cannot stand looking at them all the winter.

Winter IS coming.

Sep

2018

Autumn equinox has passed

Parthenocissus in autumn colors. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Autumn equinox has passed and it is getting darker and darker and darker… and colder and wetter too.

Plants and trees are starting to get their autumn colors. Beautiful, but I prefer summer…

Sunflower. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The one and only sunflower that I kept is in full bloom. It is an odd kind with several flowers on the same stem. The birds planted it.

Autumnflowers. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The flowers in the flowerbeds are starting to look a bit tired. Some bloom their best in the autumn, and others are on their last legs and almost dead. The red pelargonias along the fence of the patio are still alive, but they do look tired.

Echinacea. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The echinacea is almost done for the season. This (above) is how they looked on September 24th, 2018. The seed-balls are hard, thorny ones until they are ready to let loose their seeds.

Vicious fly. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Some vicious flies that bite have appeared like the one above (called “broms” in Swedish, unable to find the english name for it). There haven’t been much flies this warm and sunny summer but they have come now. Some days the air is full of the small ones, and in the afternoon the regular house-flies often sneak in if the door is open. As weather is getting colder, door isn’t open as much as it has been though.

Rudbeckia fulgida. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The rudbeckia fulgida (above) has been in bloom for several weeks already. It is an autumnflower, but it started to bloom early this year. Fortunately it still blooms now after several weeks.

Japanese anemone. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The double japanese anemone is taller than ever and have a lot more flowers than previous years. I had a regular one here as well, with simple flowers, but it has disappeared. My neighbours regular japanese anemone is still alive and in bloom though (below) in our joint flowerbed by the parking.

Japanese anemone. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Orpine. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The orpines (kärleksört in Swedish) is larger, redder and wider than ever. It has really loved the warm and sunny summer it seems. Soom years the flowers have almost not had time to bloom before the real autumn weather started. But this year …

The newest flowerbed. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The newest orpine, which we moved from flowerbed one to the newly redone one, is alos in full bloom. And also large. That’s why we moved it to here (above) as it was a bit crowded in its original location.

Rhubarb in flowerbed two. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The rhubarb, which didn’t like its location in the box, has finally been moved to flowerbed two. What was there is now in the redone flowerbed. We hope the rhubarb will like it better her. Not as much sun as in the previous location. Maybe better to be directly in the earth. We will see in spring how it works out. It has company of 2 tulipbulbs and one allium in this flowerbed. No point in putting anything else in here as long as we don’t know how the rhubarb will grow. Or not.

Oregano. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

In the box where the rhubarb used to live, there are now six plants of oregano. Five of them have lived in pots on my patio, and one in the other box. I have harvested these plants and am drying the oregano indoors now. The plants are in the box just over the winter and we will see how many of them survived. If they do, I will move them to elsewhere.

Giant verbena with bumblebee. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

I have one giant verbena which planted itself from last years verbenas. The bumblebees love it. This one hung there for a couple of hours before moving on. There are still some bumblebees around, but most of them have disappeared by now. Normally we have a lot of bumblebees around as we have the kind of flowers that they love.

Japanese forget-me-not. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

A new acquaintance in the garden is the Japanese forget-me-not. Sown by the birds. Asked in one of my FaceBook groups what it was and got the name Japanese forget-me-not. Very nice flower. Got two plants of them. Letting them bloom and spread as they want in the hope that they will reappear next year.

The garden, 24th September, 2018. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The grass is green again after having been yellowish-brown the entire summer. As soon as the rains started again after a brake of several months, the grass came to life again. But now autumn is here and the garden is loosing its colors. The grapes are harvested (and eaten). We presently have one poppy there in the picture above.

Poppy, September 24th, 2018. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

This is probably the last of the big poppies for this season. A bit late in the season for insects to find it so there can be seeds.

Mushrooms in the grass. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Talking about the grass… After the last heavy rain, suddenly the grass was full of these tiny mushrooms. They grow in the grass in a quite large area approximately where the roots of the former mirabelle tree once were. Yesterday I ran them over with the mover, but some still remain.

The larkspur is blooming for the second time. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The larkspur suddenly re-started and is blooming for the second time this year.

Helenium Moerheim Beauty. Photo: ©nini.tjader.20118

The Helenium Moerheim Beauty has been in bloom the entire summer and restarted with new flowers a couple of times. I let the seeds fall off it in the hope that it should spread. So far it has only spread at the foot of the original plant and not from the seeds. I’ve had it for some years by now. I love these flowers. And so do the bumble-bees.

Honeysuckle. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The two old honeysuckles (which started their life on the balcony of my previous flat) have got autumn-colors. At the same time they both also have flowers for the second time this year. That is not unusual. They usually bloom twice a year. I had a third honeysuckle, a yellow one, by the patio, but that one died in early summer after having had troubles for along time. So I cut it down. When all the leaves and plants are gone for the season I will look for it. It used to grow there behind the orpines… (picture below).

Greenery at the entrance from the garden, September 24th, 2018. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Due to some strong winds and stormy weather lately I’ve just started to move the pelargonias and the figtrees indoors. How much of them I will keep I’ve not decided yet. It is time now to move them indoors. Nights have become colder. It was close to zero centigrades the night before yesterday.

Autumn equinox has passed (on Sunday last). Autumn is here. Soon there will be no greenery outside. The light is disappearing and the season is getting darker and darker. I much prefer summertime… I already long for next summer…

Plants. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Aug

2018

Hot and dry

Hot and dry. Garden in the eveninglight 2018-07-25. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Hot, dry…

That grass needs some serious watering… but we are supposed to use the water sparingly. So shrubs and flowers and such get priority, not the grass. Don’t want it all to die in the hot and dry weather. So far I have managed to keep it alive, but the garden surely looks tired. The autumn flowers are in bloom now, about a month too early.

The country as a whole has had (and still has) wild-fires in several places. Very serious because of the dry weather. Grass and woods are extremely dry and there is little needed to start a fire.

You really do not want to sit in front of the computer writing blog-posts in this heat. It is about +32°C in my work corner… in the morning, all day long and in the evening. It makes it impossible to think or do something there.

On July 29th the rain finally came and we had something like 28 mm of rain in 24 hours. Since we have had some light showers now and then, but the temperature is still high both outdoors and indoors.

So what do you do when it is as hot as this?
Not much.
No gardening (except for a short while in the evening).

No cleaning indoors.
No ironing (except when you have no choice).
No cooking if you can avoid it.

Neighbour and I spend the afternoons in the garden under an umbrella in the shade. Knitting actually and having coffee and ice-cream and a lot of cold water to drink. That is slow enough not to get exhausted by the heat.

It is just as hot in the nights even though it is slightly cooler outdoors then. But then there are the mosquitos… One would think that there are no mosquitos when it is as dry as it is, but there are. Plus other bugs and flying things. The last couple of days the air is also damp after the rain we had.

Temperature indoors and outdoors 2018-08-02. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Even I, who love it being warm weather and sunny, am really fed up with this heat which you cannot escape.

Prognosis says it will get cooler and more normal temperatures next week. I’ll believe that when I see it.

Never have so many looked forward to rains, clouds and cooler weather…

Clouds 2018-08-02. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Jul

2018

A Visit to Ulriksdal Palace with Park

A visit to Ulriksdals Palace with Park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

On Tuesday (July 3rd 2018) I visited Ulriksdals Palace with Park. It has been on my agenda for quite some time to visit there. I even managed to come half-way some time ago but had to give it up because of how the buses went. Or rather not went. This time I managed to get there. Despite the louse time-table for the buses and missing the bus I had intended to take because of a delay of the commuter train. I arrived at the gates of the Palace Avenue and there could pick up a map of the entire park and surroundings. A perfect day for a walk in the park as it was warm but not hot and it was overcast. It is hard to take pictured when the sun is shining so I prefer overcast weather when doing visits like this.

Map of Ulriksdals Palace and Park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

My original intention was to go to the gardens and plant-shop, but as I arrived at the other end of the area I decided a walk in the park was a good idea. Ulriksdal is managed by the National Property Board in cooperation with the Royal Court.

Ulriksdal Palace Chapel. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The park is huge, very well-kept, beautiful and interesting.

In the park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

After entering the gates to the park and palace (free entrance) you pass a bridge over a small stream guarded by two statuses called “Blackmoors pulling net”. I went closer to it later during my walk.

Fuchsia on stems. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

At various spots on the bridge there were potted stemmed fuchsia. Didn’t know thy could gt that old and have wooded stems.

Ducks expecting food. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Standing on the bridge looking out onto the water, the ducks thought they would get fed and hurriedly came in my direction. I didn’t have anything to give them though.

A sign about the sculptures. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

There are plenty of signs all around the park describing what you look at. The signs are both in Swedish and English.

One of the blackmoors. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

I went close to the wooden bridge with the blackmoors pulling net statues., one at each end of the wooden bridge. One has lost part of one arm, but they both look uncannily realistic.

One of the blackmoors pulling net. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Even the striped clothing is part of the statues.

The park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The palace park has intricate hedges and very straight avenues bordered by large trees.

flowerbeds, hedges, ulriksdalspalacepark

Flowerbeds inside hedges in the palace park. Photo: © nini.tjader.2018

Inside some of the hedges formations there are flowerbeds with various flowers.

Flowerbeds inside hedge structures. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The flowerbeds are bordered by low hedges and the pattern of flowerbeds themselves are surrounded by high hedges. These ones are called Hårleman’s bosquet.

Sign about Ulriksdals Palalce. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The palace explained on a large sign in Swedish and English.

WWF sculpture. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

This cute sculpture is placed just outside the palace and was a gift to the king from WWF on his 50-ths birthday (if I remember correctly).

Ulriksdals Palace. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

And this is the palace itself from where you enter it. There are guided tours of the inside, but I choose not to make a guided tour.

Ulriksdals Palace. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The back of the palace is turned towards the sea.

Ulriksdal Palace Park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The front of the palace is turned towards the park and huge meadows.

Hedges at Ulriksdals Palace Park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Behind and to the side of the palace there are large hedges with openings to walking paths along the shore. I have always been intrigued by hedges with openings in them… to where do the opening lead…

The shore behind Ulriksdals palace. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Flowers outisde the palace. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Here and there in the park there are large pots with flowers. Above Garden Cosmos (rosenskära in Swedish) surrounded by some plant I don’t know the name of.

Lind. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The avenues of the park have large, old trees bordering the allée. The trees are tilia cordata. When I visited they were all in bloom.

Tilia Cordata allée in Ulriksdal Palace Park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Statue of wild boar in Ulriksdal Palace Park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018.

In the park in front of Ulriksdal Palace there is a water-pool with cascading water and by its end stands two sculptures of wild boars.

wildboard, ulriksdalpalacepark, sculpture

Sculpture of wild boar. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

In between the wild boar sculptures is a pelargonia-staircase with various pelargonias.

Pelargonia stair-case in Ulriksdal Palace Park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Pelargonia in Ulriksdal Palace Park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

I wonder how many visitors who are pelargonia-lovers that take cuttings from these pots…

Avenue in Ulriksdal Palace Park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

And the avenues continued further on in the park.

Fallen tree, Ulriksdal Palace Park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The trees in the park are old. Some have fallen. The above one recently. There has been some quite hard winds recently.

The Turkish Pavilion. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

At the end of the avenues the park takes on another look and feel. Here is for instance the Turkish Pavilion, just at the edge to the English Park which is not as rigid in design as the rest of the park with its straight avenues.

Ulriksdal Palace and Park seen from the Turkish Pavilion.Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

I went further into the English Park where the grass was knee-high between the trees.

The English Park at Ulriksdal Palace Park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

I then went on to the plantshop in in Ulriksdal Palace garden.

Ulriksdal Palace plantshop. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

A very well-sorted plantshop with lots of plants of all kinds. I wasn’t there to buy, but only to look. Didn’t really want to have something to carry on my way home.

I visited both the gardens and the green-houses as well as the area wherewith “self-picking” of vegetables and flowers where you picj what you want yourself and pay for it when you leave. Below a galelry from that area. All very neat and well-orderd. A pleasure to visit.

There are more there to see and visit. I didn’t visit the coffeeshop or the Orangery Museum or the inside of the Palace. Maybe another time… The problem is to get there with public transportation as the time-tables are so bad and it is so far in between the buses. I was lucky though to both get there and home again this time.

Jun

2018

Despite the drought

The garden 2018-06-17 Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Drought didn’t kill the garden

Despite the drought, the garden is not dead even though the grass is far from green and there are tones of yellowish-brown all over the place. But in time for Midsummer the rain arrived. In 48 hours we had 17+25 mm of rain. Much needed really.

Garden 2018-06-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The black currants (the two large bushes in the middle of the picture above) are coming fine this year again.

Black currants. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The branches of the black currant bushes get heavier and heavier for each day as the berries ripen. Two more weeks I woudl guess before they are ripe enough to be picked. Tasted one of the black ones but it is still extremely sour.

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The foodstation for the birds is now closed for the season. No more seeds for a while. For a couple of days the birds were confused and kept coming and they cleaned under the foodstation in the grass. But there are fewer and fewer birds each day that passes. I miss having there to look at, but I simply cannot afford feeding them the year around. It gets quite expensive. And during the sumemr season they should be able to find food themselves. Or it the worms and insects on the plants…

The hollyhocks will soon bloom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The hollyhocks were not affected by the drought. They will soon bloom. They do not grow in the exact same place as last years though. They have “moved”. And they grow in an awkward place in the flowerbed just at the entrance to my outside place. They are healthier this year though than last. Fewer bugs on them. They seem to have liked all the sun and warmth we’ve had.

The flowerbed at the entrance to my outside place. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The digitalis are fewer this year than last and they are blooming just now.

Digitalis. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The digitalis are also not at all that high as last year. Probably also caused by the drought. Watering flowerbeds and bushes by the garden hose makes them survive, but it is not enough in the long run. The drought lasted about five weeks.

White bluebell. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The bluebells are blooming now. Bothe the white ones and the blue ones. The white one has moved about 50 cm since last year. Probably by seed. The original one is gone.

Large bluebells. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Small bluebells. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Both the large and the small bluebells are blooming. The large ones are much fewer this year than last. Partly because I actively removed a lot of the large ones in the autumn. Partly because of the drought I would guess. There are more of the small ones though.

Wine. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

One plant that also loved the sun, warmth and drought is the wine. Last year we hade two flowers on it. This year several. Hoping there will also become grapes of them. Beacause the high summer kind of began already around may 5th you forget that it is still only June and most of the summer in front of us yet. It is early days yet for the greenery.

Helenium Moerheim Beauty. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Everything is early in development, and everything bloom out very fast with the warmth we’ve had. I cannot remember that the Helenium Moerheim Beauty has started to bloom this early before.Its flwoers are just starting to open up.

Lambsear “Big Ear”. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The lambsear “Big Ear” is also just starting to bloom. After the rain I had to steady it by hanging it on the lilac bush branches as it was very wet and heavy. When it dried it stood by itself again.

Lambsear at the foot of the lilac. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The lambsear grows at the foot of the lilac, which had plenty of flowers this year. Because of the drought, the flowers on the lilc only lasted about a week though. The bush to the left of it ( a goatsbeard) still looks the same even though the flowers are finished. Both bushes have reached their max-height for the season. The lambsears are still growing and there will be more than those two flowers on them.

Lavender. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Also the lavender has thrived from the drought, warmth and sun. Despite not cutting it in the spring or last autumn, it is larger than ever to the joy of the bumblebees and bees.

Acanthus. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Also the acanthus will bloom this year and has obviously liked the warmth, sun and drought. It hasn’t done that since the year it was planted (which I think is 3 years ago). The flower is slowly growing and I hope it makes it and opens up. Had forgotten how the flower looks so had to google it. The plant itself is now three plants. I move the original one a couple of years ago because it was at a bad location in the flowerbed. But apparently I forgot a part of it because last year they were two plants. It also has spred by roots (I guessI because this year Iäve seen a tiny third plant as well, just between the two larger ones. If the other large one will bloom this year or not still remains to be seen.

Beach roses in the backgarden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

In the backgarden the beachroses have grown a lot since I cut them down to about 15 cm in height some time in April. Despite the drought and the fact that they have gotten no water or rain at all except for the rains around Midsummer they have grewn a lot and their flowers are now starting to come too.

The rosebush.. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Our rosebush (probably a Chloris it is said), a rose with almost no thorns and a fragrance which is heavenly, had lots of flowers this year. They lasted just one week and are all gone now. For a change it didn’t have any lice this year. Thanks to the drought Id guess.

The hostas behind my outside place. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The hostas along the plank of my outside place do not like drought and warm weath and sun. But these one grow along the fence behind outside place and are in the shadow most of the day. I’ve watered them thoroughly all along the dry period. The all green one is larger than ever, the one with white edges is also bigger than usual. Tehy will soon bloom. Iäve spied the flowerbuds under their leaves.

Honeysuckle. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

My two old honeysuckle are blooming a lot and have also grewn a lot this year. I have two kinds of honeysuckle. One is the regular pink and white one, the other one is this orange one. Both started their life on the balcony of my previous flat where they were until I move here in October 2009 and planted them on the corner of the high plank of my outside place. Two years ago they looked really poorly and I gut them down a lot, both of them. They came back fine last year and this year even more. Do not look too close on them though…

Lice on the honeysuckle. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Particularly the pink and white one has lots of lice. The orange one not so bad. There is no pint in even trying to get rid of the lice. They stay where they are and do not move on to other plants and even though they look like in the above picture, they do not seem to harm the plant itself.

Another plant that has thrived this spring is the wild wine (parthenocissus) which got a new bow all for itself. The plant itself I’ve had on the corner of my outside place for some years and it hasn’t really grown that good until this year. It really likes the airiness of the rose-bow. Have to get up on a ladder to tuck in the new branches soon though…

I wish this summer still brings more sun and warmth. Despite the drought we’ve had.

Wild wine, parthenocissus. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Jun

2018

Sunny, warm, dry

Daisies in the dry grass. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Since the beginning of May it has been extremely sunny, warm and dry for being Sweden. I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors, in the sun, gardening and sun-bathing. I love this kind of weather, but it is too dry for the greenery. Grass is now brown-beige instead of green. And all the greenery is developing much too fast. If I hadn’t shot pictures of flowers and bushes and all that grows I would have missed out of what is happening in the garden as it happens so fast this year.

Lambs ear “Big Ear”. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

There has been a lot of watering of the flowerbeds and bushes, but everyone is asked to save the water and not water lawns. My lambs ear plants, “Big Ear”, will bloom this year as well as it did last year. Flowers are on the way.

Two kinds of honeysuckle. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The two kinds of honeysuckle, one pink and white and one orange, are blooming a lot presently and growing a lot as well. They are both attached to this rose-bow making an opening to the back-garden. Unfortunately these two honey-suckle plants have no fragrance what so ever. But the attract bees and bumblebees and lice anyway. Don’t look too close on it because it is full of greenish lice…

Wild wine. Photo:©nini.tjader.2018

The wild wine on the new rose-bow is growing fine as well and is covering the newest rose-bow more and more. Earlier years it has just crept along the fence of my patio and not really been seen. It likes this much better.

Rose-bows. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Both rose-bows have a sun-charged lamp at the top of them. Lamp comes from IKEA. Above you can see both bows and the flowers-bed along the outside of my patio.

The climbing hortensia. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The climbing hortensia on the backside of the highest wall of my patio has more flowers this year than last. Last year it hade two flowers. This year there are about 16 flowers. To the great joy of the bumble-bees and the bees. They are blooming as best just now and the whole wall is sounding from the bumble-bees.

Climbing hortensia. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

It took some six years or so for the climbing hortensia to start blooming. More flowers next year?

We were asked to oil the tree-planks of the patios with a tree-oil with black pigments this years. So all patios are now black. Except for the backside of my high plank as I didn’t want to disturb the climbing hortensia when it blooms. I will do the backside by autumn when leaves start to fall off but before it gets too cold to do the job.

The backgarden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The back-garden, outside the windows of a neighbour, is as unkempt as ever. Only I can get to it. I cut the rose-bushes down to around 20 cm of heights in earlier spring, but the bushes are up again, despite the dry weather. You cannot really get rid of those bushes unless you dig them up. That’s what I’ve done in the rest of this area plus together with my neighbour in the front area where the actual garden is. It used to be all thorny bushes everywhere once upon a time.

The trees at the very end of this area that were cut down some years ago are coming up again though… mirabelle-trees.

The box. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The box in the backgarden is coming along fine. The chives, the dragon, the lemon balm all survived the winter. I’ve planted new parsley (three plants) and new oregano (2 plants). A third oregano is also in the box, moved to there from a flowerbed along the fence. I’ve also planted oregano in two pots on the patio and already cut it down and dried what was in them to make it grow more oregano. Last year I grew too little oregano. It didn’t last the winter so I had to go out and buy dried oregano.

Along the patio. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

On the outside of the aptio I have three long flowerboxes with red pelargonias haning above the flowerbed. The flowerbed under it had nothing but crocus in it in April. Now everything else is coming up and it will soon be blooming there.

Mint and peppermint. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The mint and peppermint flowerbed is filled to the brim with the growing plants. There will be no shortage of mint this year… So far no bugs on it eating the leaves, But they might still come…

Along the patio towards the backgarden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The hostas/funkias at the end of the flowerbed, at the foot of the rose-bow with the two honeysuckles, are just getting larger for each year that passses. Particularly the all green one. The white and green is smaller.

Astilbe. Photo: ©nini-tjader.2018

The three astilbes (2 white, one pink) have flowerbuds and will soon bloom. That is early…

Digitalis. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The digitalis are coming up along the fence as well. Not as many as last year, but enough to be decorative.

Digitalis. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The digitalis grow fast. You can almost see them grow from day to day. Which colors they will be this year remains to be seen.

The hostas/funkias. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Above you can see the hostas/funkias as they presently look. They will still get bigger and later get flowers. The green with white edges IS bigger this year than last, but the all green is huge.

Below is the corner by the entrance from the garden as it presently looks. The hollyhocks are in another position this year (moved themselves), the yellow honeysuckle seem to be dying and its drastically cut down, but everything else in this flowerbed is fine. To keep the flowerbeds and all plants alive there has to be regular watering (evenings) or the dry and warm weather would kill it all. Enough that the grass is not green… No, we are not forbidden to water, but asked to do it wisely and be carful with how the water is used.

I will report from the front garden another day.

By the entrance from the garden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

May

2018

Springtime, summer, garden

Springtime, summer, garden. The garden in the evening 2018-05-08 at 20:05. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Springtime, summer, garden

Suddenly spring arrived. Fast. And then a weather that is more like high summer than spring. The light returned and so did warmth and sunshine. The garden explodes before your eyes and you can almost see how everything grows.

Alice and Gustav in the garden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

We all, including the cats Alice and Gustav, enjoy the really early summer-weather out in the garden.

The garden May 9th 2018. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Everything is growing.
Everything is in bloom.
Everything needs attention,
Who wants to be indoors in front of the computer writing blog-posts?

The garden in springtime. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

I’ve got myself a new sun-chair. Grey this time. The red one I’ve had for years I threw out in the autumn as it had done its time and was falling apart. This is the same model as the old one, just another color. Very comfortable. Have already used it a lot.

GardenMay 9th, 2018. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

I’ve got a new bow for the Engelmanns wine. Will look nice when the wine leaves come out. They are starting to, but you cannot really see it in thepicture from May 9th. What you CAN see though is that the plank around my outside place is no longer natural color, but black. The whole community now are getting black pigmented oil for the planks. Slowly we are all oiling them and they get black. I actually like it. Except that you see all the dust and all the seeds from plants on it and constantly have an urge to clean the plank… But the greenery comes out nicely against the black plank. Since I shot these pictures, both the balconies on the second floor have been oiled and are also black.

gustav, alice, cats, springtime, summer, garden

Gustav and Alice in the garden, Yin and Yang. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The grass is getting greener every day… but, at places already getting brown as there has been no rain and really very warm weather.The hoze is out every evening for watering the plants and bushes, but I donät water the grass.

Colorful flowerbed, May 10th 2018. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

If I didn’t take photos all the time I would miss out on all the flowering and colorful flowerbeds and what is happening there. Flowers come and go and disappear really fast. The above flowerbed, shot at May 10th, looks nothing like this today…

appleblossoms, springtime, summer, garden

Appleblossoms. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The whole neighbourhood is perfumed by the scents of the flowering trees all around. Lovely.

dandelions. maskrosor, springtime, summer, garden

Dandelions. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

It is also dandelion-season… as springtime and early summer always is. I hunt them in the grass wherever I see them and dig them u p. I don’t want them to spread.

Red currants flowers. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The red currants on the commons are coming along fine, as are the black currants in our garden.

neighbourcat, cat, springtime, summer, garden

The striped neighbour cat. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The striped neighbour cat from the other side of the house visits regularly. He also drinks from the birdbath… They all do.

birdfeeding, fence, springtime, summer, garden

By the birdfeeding. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

We have fenced in the flowerbed by the birdfeeding as the three cats liked to hide in or on the flowers, flattening them to the ground, when they waited for the birds to come… Intention of course to catch birds… Have put in lots of flowerseeds at the edge of this flowerbed. Waiting for them to come up. At least now the cats cannot lay on the flowers…

Springtime and summertime at the same time. This year the month of May is delivering and everything is getting green and flowering. It is a beautiful and lovely season.

Springtime in the garden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

And Gustav is back sleeping in his high grass.

gustav, cat, grass, springtime, summer, garden

Gustav sleeping in the grass. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Jan

2018

Indoor plants in January

Indoor plants. My kitchenwindows 2017-10-15. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

Indoor plants in January can be rather depressing. The ones that are still alive often look very tired and almost gone. Others are already gone for various reasons. And some are still green and promise to survive the dark winter days. The picture above is from October 15th 2017. The number of plants in my kitchen windows (which are exceptionally good for indoor plants) has since changed somewhat.

Indoor plants in the kitchen January 5th, 2018. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018 The south-facing window.

They have also become fewer. The large philodendron that climbs both windows and is there instead of curtains has grown further. It has lost a lot of leaves but at the same time also sprouted new leaves here and there. It actually looks better in January than it did in October. My ginkgo biloba has gotten a new pot and fresh soil. Not optimal to replant in December, but the pot was empty and the ginkgo needed a larger pot. It is still green and has so far not lost any leaves. It will though. That is what it normally does. The two green hanging plants look as they’ve always looked… Not much change there.

Indoor plant sin the kitchen, January 5th, 2018. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The west-facing window in the kitchen. I’ve opened up roll-up curtain all the way for the winter. The plants (and the kitchen) need their light when there is some.

Dying rosemary 2018-01-07. PHoto: ©nini.tjader.2018

One of the rosemary plants I had in this window is gone. It just died. The remaining one in the middle of the window is slowly dying too (picture above). Will have to get a new rosemary plant later on in spring. I use rosemary a lot on oven baked potatoes for instance. I still have some dried rosemary too but I prefer the fresh one.

The small aloe vera in the kitchen. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The small aloe vera there has grown a lot since it got a new pot and fresh soil in the autumn. I know. shouldn’t replant in the autumn. But sometimes there is no choice.

I threw out my orchids during the autumn. They were really tired and uninspiring. And I needed the space.

Indoor plants in the livingroom, January 7th, 2018. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The indoor plants in the livingroom include two figtrees that are indoors over winter. They have extra light to survive. They are both growing surprisingly well indoors. The smaller tree has lost some leaves, but the oldest and bigger not. That one lost its only fig the other day though when the large aloe vera fell on it… My fault. I moved their stands to be able to reach electricity and to clean under them.

Indoor plants in the livingroom, January 7th, 2018. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

There are fewer indoor plants in the livingroom too as some have been moved to the kitchen and others hav e gone for ever. (I need to do something about all the cables on the floor…). Under the sideboard I keep the bird-feed for the birds outdoors. They need extra food particularly in the winter.

Indoor plants in the livingroom, January 7th, 2018. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Notice the large aloe vera to the left in the above picture? Notice how small its pot is? Yes, right… it needs re-pottering in a larger pot.

Aloe Vera 2018-01-07. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

My oldest and largest aloe vera has again got lots of baby plants at its bottom. To remove them or keep them is the question. I donät need more aloe veras in the flat… I already have four, three of them originating from this large one at re-potting. I’ve also given away a few to friends and neighbours.

Ale Vera in the livingroom, January 7th, 2018. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The problem with re-potting the aloe vera is that it is BIG, THORNY and HEAVY, I do have an empty larger pot that it can live in. If I take it into the bathroom I might be able to re-pot it. Inormally do this outdoors in the garden as it gets a bit messy. But it is winter and very cold just now. and the warmer season is far way still.

This (above) is how the plantwindow in the livingroom looks when you enter the room and it is daylight.

In the bedroom I keep three white pelargonias for their winter-rest, one put with three figtree cuttings (which are coming along just fine) and one hanging plant in the background which is not that fuzzy when it comes to light.

On the windowsill in the bedroom I have my cactuses and one more aloe vera plus a small aloe vera of another kind.

One of my old cactuses started blooming some time in November and the above picture I shot from outside the house on December 30th (easiest way to take a picture of it without having to move it around on the windowsill indoors). New flowers are still coming on it. If it blooms, it normally blooms by the end of February or beginning of March. I got a bit surprised when I saw the flowers now. Wrong season. Not that I mind. They are quite nice. This one also need re-potting. Never got around to it in the warm season.

Dec

2017

Is this winter?

Is this winter? I mean, this weather is as far from winter as it can get. Yes, there has been cold days. Yes, there HAS been some snow. But most of the time the temperature is above zero centigrades and it is raining, raining, raining. When you got into the garden and step on the ground it feels like stepping on some spongy material. The ground is SO wet. All these pictures were shot yesterday on December 30th.

The garden is ugly this time of the year. BUT you already see traces of what will come in spring. It is a long time until then though.

The giant verbena is still alive even though it is not blooming. I see the beginnings of next years digitalis in several places.

The flowerbeds are really ugly and everything is withering even though some plants still stand.

This plant above plant, Ajuga Reptans, is beautiful also in winter with there dark lilac leaves. There was some frost on them when I shot this picture.

The alumroots look fine also at the end of December. Less colorful, but still alive.

We have four different alumroots, each a different color. The above ones are a little bit flatted by frost and the earlier snow, but otherwise looking fine for winter.

Next years digitalis have come up in several places.Their leaves are really big. Just hoping they will get flowers in the summer.

The giant poppy did not bloom last year. I hope it will bloom the coming year. It was bought as a ready plant, not sown by seed.

The flowerbed by the parking looks terrible… But there are traces of plants to come.

The blackberry bushes have large buds for next years leaves.

The astilbeflowers from last year have an interesting color…

These are the raspberry-bushes in winter. We got almost no raspberries last summer. Hoping for more the coming summer.

In one of the flowerbeds I yesterday found this round, white thing. What it is? Probably a flowerbulb of some kind that somehow has escaped the earth… I covered it with new soil today to protect it. Size approximately 5 cms in diameter.

By the birdfeeder. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

By the birdfeeder the vegetation is just unordered…

The climbing hortensia at the backside of my patio is all naked in winter. It has large buds though for next years leaves, and, hopefully, more flowers the coming year. This year it had three flowers.

The snow remaining from the latest snowfall a couple of weeks ago, is dirty, but frozen and filled with sand. It will probably stay like that until some time in April… This where the snowplows leave the snow they have removed from the parking. Other parts of Sweden has got a lot of snow this year. But here, just outside Stockholm, very little.

The rhubarb-box has no rhubarbs that you can see during winter. But they are there… It also houses my neighbours carnations over winter plus her thyme and oregano.

The sedum telephium are still standing, but look awful. The little snow we had destroyed them.

I found some pansies in bloom. Are they supposed to bloom at the end of December?

This is how the flowerbeds at the entrance to the patio from the garden look like in winter (when there is no snow). Not particularly inspiring…

But, if you look closely, there are green leaves and and plants coming up here.

The yellow honeysuckle has green leaves where I cut it. Not only here (picture) but on several other places as well.

The beach roses in the backgarden really look tired. As they should in winter. No leaves, just molten fruits. In spring I will cut down the bushes to about 20 cms heights. Or dig them up and remove them…

These treestumps normally stand in the garden with flowerpots on them. Over winter I keep them on the patio. They are getting old. Nature changes them. On one of them moss has started to grow…

There are more things alive in the garden at the end of December than one might think. Here are some examples.

Moss on treestump

Carnations

Oregano

Crocus

Lemon balm

Parsley

Thyme

Oregano

Mint

Crocus

I actually prefer so called green winters to winters with lots of snow and really cold weather. But for the garden, snow is better. It protects what grows there. There might still come snow… But not in 2017…

Nov

2017

My figtrees

I’ve written about my figtrees before. Just have to write about them again. The one above is my oldest figtree. It has been cut twice now.

My figtrees live outdoors on the patio during the warm season and I bring them indoors when autumn and cold comes, but before the frosts. My oldest figtree has a tendency to grow in the “wrong direction” which makes it take up too much space. Particularly when it is indoors. Had I known how easy it is to take cuttings from it and grew new figtrees, I would have done it earlier.

According to the expertise figtrees should be kept dark and cold but not freezing over winter. As I do not have such a place to store them, they are kept indoors over winter with extra special plant lights.

First time I cut it was spring 2017, some time in March I think it was. Image above is from May 20th 2017. That is about the time I planted the cutting in a pot of its own. Originally it was two cuttings but one of them died.

End of May was also the time when the older and larger figtree moved outdoors.

To begin with I placed it under an umbrella to protect it from the strong spring sun. The year before I didn’t do that which resulted in burned leaves that quickly fell off.

Where the old figtree had been cut, new branches and new leaves grew out pretty fast. The old figtree lost a lot of leaves at the beginning of the summer. That was expected. Happens when it has been indoors all winter and not losing its leaves to any great extent (which it normally should).

The oldest figtree had two figs on it when the tree moved outdoors. Not edible… tasted really bad.

The new, small figtree came along fine and new leaves and branches grew on it.

Above is how it looked on august 8th 2017. Just like the motherplant it has a tendency to grew sideways…

The older figtree woke up as late as the end of August and then started to grew new leaves and branches. A bit late…

Sometime in October it was time to move the figtrees indoors again and give them extra lighting. I thought that October could not be a good time to cut the big tree and make new cuttings, but I took the chance and cut it anyways. I needed to make it smaller to be able to store it over the winter.

Moving indoors of course meant losing some leaves now and then. Figtreeleaves are beautiful.

By the middle of October the older figtree had plenty of small new leaves and branches growing on it.

The cuttings from the older figtree also grew and got roots on all of them. They are four cuttings. I would never have thought that it would work to take cuttings in October and get roots on them as fast as I did.

The older tree got one fig… I doubt it will be edible …

As the roots on the four (4) cuttings grew larger and stronger I decided to plant them all by the beginning of November.

All four cuttings were planted in the same pot. We are now on November 30th, and they seem to have survived the move to the pot and have only lost one small leaf so far. And they have all new leaves too.

The older and larger figtree is coming along fine and just grows and grows and grows where it was cut… It has grown a lot since I cut it.

They are all alive and thriving. Just hoping they will continue to do so and survive this dark period indoors.

Nov

2017

Frosty morning

It was a frosty morning yesterday and today. Today I managed to go out and catch some pictures of the frost as I was up and about much earlier than usual as I had to meet the guys who are installing a radon sucker thing in the house-ground just under my bedroom. Had to give them access to measure where the floor is and to check from where to take electricity and to provide them with water as that side of the house doesn’t have any outside water. I used the time before they arrived to go out shoot some pictures of the frost. As much as I dislike winter, cold, snow the frost is still beautiful.

Here is some of what I saw this morning. Reload page to make pictures re-sort themselves.

Frost IS beautiful.

Oct

2017

Between the rains…

Between the rains I check the garden for the latest developments. Autumn is here and it is a busy time. The garden has to be closed down and the patio emptied of pots and other stuff.

The color are changing out there and there is not much left to take care of.

It starts to look empty on the patio. I haven’t covered anything up yet, and the carpets are still there, soaking wet after the rains lately. Pots on wall and floor and other spots are either gone for waste or indoors. Other stuff is slowly moved from here to the storage on the other side of the house.

So, any work out there has to be done between the rains. We had 33 mm of rain the last couple of days. Emptied the rain-gauge yesterday and it has rained another 5 mm since.

The sweetpeas on the patio are still in bloom and sprouting new flowerbuds. It was NOT a good ide to plant them together with the cobea in the same pot. It just looks messy. I will never do that again. On another note, I will never again grow sweet peas. They have a nice smell and the flowers are interesting if looking really close on them, but… too much work to get them from pea to flower and in the end, how they grow just looks messy.

The cobea, which the sweet peas share a large pot with, is in bloom and has lots of flower buds still not opened. It is a pity that it blooms so late in the year. But this year, at least it blooms. Other years it didn’t even get that far. It is an annual plant so new plant has to be planted every year if you want it. You cannot plant it until end of Mya, beginning of June as it is very sensitive to frost nights. Planting it that late is one of the causes for it blooming so late. It grows a lot in one season though. It has never been this big previous years. This year it has thrown itself over the plank and down on the other side and onto the wall there as well.

The leaves of the climbing hortensia at the backside of the tall plank on the patio are getting more yellow for each day and will soon fall off. The dark green leaves mixed with them is the cobea form the patio.

The cobea is also climbing on the wall and is presently at the top of my bedroom window. Look closely for the flower buds all along its loop.

The cobea flowers on the backside of the patio-plank are pale… There has been a shortage of light and sunshine the last week so they havenät yet developed their darkblue color. They look very strange this pale…

Fascinating flower…

The honeysuckles (two old ones) have grown a lot this year and are climbing the bow as they should. The sundriven lamp there I will take down soon. No point of having it there when there is no sun as it doesn’t charge then and doesn’t have enough power to light up when it gets dark. The smaller sunöcharged lamps in the garden I took into storage last week as they too had stopped lighting up.

The old orange honeysuckle has a new flower… in October…

The echinacea at the outside of the patio is looking really tired after the rains and are more or less finished for the season. There happened to be a couple of minutes of sunshgine yesterday when I shot these pictures, but it was just a couple of minutes… Rains resumed later in the day.

The echinacea flower is interesting even when wilted. Before the top of it dries (how can it dry in these rains?) it is really hard. When mature and dry and ready to spread its seeds it all falls apart.

The double anemone hupehensis (höstanemon in Swedish) in the same flower bed is still opening flowers. It is always late in the season and this year it is taller and generally larger than ever before. I hope it continues like that also next year.

Also the hostas are changing colors in the autumn. Big as they are they will wilt down totally and disappear. And (hopefully) come back next year. They always start over from scratch.

The Virginia Creeper is also changing colors and the leaves are starting to fall off. Iäve had it for at least 3-4 years by now but it started to really grow just this year. I am confident that it will continue like this also next year.

The orpine at the flowerbed by the entrance to the patio is at its most beautiful state just now and has opened theri flowers. A bit late this year actually… The bumblebees and bees and all theri relatives are missing out on the flowers. Most of them have retired by now.

The Amelanchier alnifolia, which we planted in replacement of the mirabelle tree which was cut down in October 2015, has come along just fine. The birdfeeder has new food waiting for the birds. Some of the birds are back, but not many yet as it hasn’t been all that cold yet. Wet, but not cold. I have taken away a lot of the messy plants in the flowerbed on this side of the bush. What is left will be left over winter and then we will see what comes up next year.

The flowers in the flowerbeds along the plank are still in bloom.

The dark plant in this flowerbed (which I’ve forgotten the name of) will probably have to be reduced and partly moved elsewhere or it will kill the astilbes.

The above flowerbed was created this summer. The plants there, three alumroots/heuchera and some other plants, are coming along just fine. We moved them all from another flowerbed.

There is a lot wilting down in the garden presently. But two large pots I’ve kept in the garden, the red basil for the bumblebees that are still awake, and the giant verbena which both still have lots of lilac flowers. Not all is dead yet, but soon will be.

Summertime

The backgarden

Wintergarden

Move of plantbox

Withering plants

Plants moved indoors

Like this:

Like this:

Hot, dry…

Like this:

Drought didn’t kill the garden

Springtime, summer, garden

Like this:

Like this:

Search

Translate:

Nini on Instagram

ninitj

Recent Posts

Monthly Archives

Nini on Pinterest

Annual Archive

Recent Comments

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Favorite Blogs

Categories

Meta