Plants

Moving indoors, autumn is here

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The jungle in the kitchenwindow. Photo:©nini.tjader.2019

It is autumn. Plants have moved indoors from the patio. It is getting colder and we have had some frost nights.

Jungle in the kitchen

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The kitchen jungle. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

It is a jungle in the kitchen. The figtrees and the pelargonias är in since mid September when the weather started to turn to colder, especially the nights got colder.

Plants in the bedroom

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Plants in the bedroom. Photo:©nini.tjader.2019

In the bedroom I placed the Caliente pelargonia, one Mårbacka pelargonia and the tall Attar of Roses fragrance pelargonia. I hope they will survive the winter there. As always when they get moved indoors lots of leaves are getting yellow and have to be removed. They still bloom though and I will allow them to do so as long as they want. Some people cut down pelargonias when moving them indoors in the autumn. I don’t unless I have to. I rather cut them down in the spring when they need it. The tall Attar of Roses so far is the one not getting yellow leaves. Yet. And it grows and blooms. I will have to cut it down later as it has reached the ceiling.

Jungle in the livingroom

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Plants in the window in the livingroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

It is a bit crowded with plants in the livingwoom-window.… Pelargonias and the largest figtree.

Tomatoplant in the livingroom

Since I shot the above picture, I’ve also moved the large tomato-plant indoors, just inside the door to the outside place (kind of tomato is Tiny Tim) as it is full of flowers and tiny tomatoes. 

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Indoor tomatoes. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

I pluck the tomatoes when they get of size and ripe them on a plate in the kitchen.

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Tomatoes ripening indoors. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

No special tricks to get them to ripe. They just lay there on a plate in the warmth of the kitchen and slowly ripe by themselves. Som do all kinds of mumbo-jumbo to get them to ripe. No need for that. Just leave them alone and they will ripe by themselves.

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Plants in the livingroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

On the other side of the door to the outside place there are two Mårbacka pelargonias and one Aloe Vera that previously lived in the bedroom.

The patio and the garden

Empty patio. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The patio is now empty. Not just because I moved all the plants indoors. Well, not all the plants moved indoors. Some, less worth to try to spare over the winter went into the dumpster. But there was another reason too why the entire outside place got emptied. The wooden parts of the house were to get painted.

Painting of the walls. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

So furniture was moved out on the grass to make room for the painters and the scaffoldings.

Walls getting painted. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

So life in garden and outdoors was finished earlier than usual.

Walls getting painted. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The painting is almost finished now. They are supposed to be done by the coming Tuesday. Then I can go out and move the furniture back to the patio, and check damage on plants in the garden. I’ve done a quick check and it isn’t as bad as it could have been. But some damage there is.

Most of the scaffolding was already gone yesterday. Last time the walls were painted was only five years ago. It needed to be done now to protect the wooden parts. I hope it lasts longer than 5 years this time…

Posted by nini in autumn, bedroom, House plants, indoor plants, kitchen, livingroom, outside place, Plants, Urban Jungle Bloggers, 0 comments

On my windowsills

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The western kitchenwindow 2019-+8-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

In my opinion, windowsills are for plants and flowers. Makes the rooms nice to be in.

At this time of the year, the content on the windowsills is in transition between summer and autumn and there are far less plants there than in the cold season as some of them live outdoors during the warm season.

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Kitchenwindows 2019-08-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

In the kitchen

My kitchen has two dinws. One to the south, one to the west. In the kitchen I use plants instead of curtains. One of the plants is my huge philodendron that follow the curtainrod over both the windows. It starts in its pot on the floor though. I’ve had that one for many years by now and it started its life in my previous flat.

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The southern kitchenwindow, 2019-08-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

In the southern kitchenwindow I presently have two hanging plants and smaller ones on the sill. There are one small cactus (that grows really slow), three Saint Paulia grewn from leaves, and one Thai Basil to the right which you cannot see in this picture.

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The western kitchenwindow, 2019-08-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

In between the two dinwos I presently have a kind of cactus on a high stand, then cuttings from fig trees and Saint Paulia and a regular basil. Two hanging pots with tradescandia (two different kinds). And a potus hainging up there as well.

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Hanging plant in the kitchenwindow. 2019-08-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

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In the corner between the two windows in the kitchen, 2019-08-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

In the livingroom

In the livingroom I have one west-facing window beside the door to the patio.

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Livingroomwindow, 2019-08-17.Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

I recently re-organized the plants in the livingroom-window and moved one of the hanging plants from the kitchen to here. There was more room in the window here than in the kitchen. I also led the Monkey Face monstera upwards when I gave it a larger pot and new soil as it was becoming very long.

I have a bench in front of the window to be able to have more plants there. The lamp on the bench is from Ikea, but the bulb in it from ICA Maxi (grocery store).

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Ficus. 2019-08-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The above ficus is from cuttings from my neighbour. It is fast getting big now so it too got new soil and a new pot.

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Monkey Face monstera in the livingroom window, 2019-08-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

On the floor in the corner of the livingroomwindow I have a hug tradescantia. Had to get a new plantstand for it from Ikea. It still reaches the floor from the stand…

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Tradescantia in the livingroom, 2019-08-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

In the bedroom

I have one small window in the bedroom.

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Bedroomwindow 2019-08-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The bedroomwindow is pretty empty presently On the sill, behind the curtains, are my cactus plants. The I have a chests of drawers in front of the window that I also use for plants, but mainly wintertime. At the moment there are only two aloe vera here. Wintertime some of my pelargonias live here.

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Cactus and haworthia in the bedroomwindow, 2019-08-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

In just a month or so I will have to solve the problem of where to put my figtrees and pelargonias that have to come in from the patio. Which to keep and which not and where to place them. Meanwhile they are just fine outdoors.

Posted by nini in bedroom, House plants, indoor plants, kitchen, livingroom, Plants, 0 comments

Winter is coming

frozen, birdbath

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…

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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

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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.

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.

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Autumn garden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

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

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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.

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The backgarden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Autumn colors are beautiful, but…

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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.

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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…

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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.

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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.

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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

indoorplants, plants

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.

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

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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.

Posted by nini in autumn, Garden, greenery, Plants, winter, 0 comments

Attar of Roses has grown

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Attar of Roses pelargonia. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

From May to when it gets cold in the autumn all my pelargonias live outdoors in pots. Either on the patio or out in the garden. At mid August one starts to think about what to do with them when cold strikes and they have to go indoors. Where to put them? That is a big problem when the plants have grown over the warm summer and become really big.

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Attar of Roses pelargonia. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

My largest pelargonia is the Attar of Roses. Presently its pot stands in the garden by the fence and just started blooming again. First flowers I saw early in the season shortly after I bought it, then again in June and then nothing until now. I didn’t buy it for its beauty or its flowers but for its nice fragrance. My Attar of Roses is presently 95 cms high, including pot. The pot is probably a bit too small. Might need to re-pot it in a larger pot before I bring it indoors.

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Attar of Roses by mid June. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Until mid June or end of June it lived on the patio. As it grew larger and larger it took up too much space there so I moved its pot into the garden by the fence instead.

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Attar of Roses 2018-05-29. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

I bought the plant at the garden fair in Älvsjö in the spring. It lived its first months indoors waiting for warmer weather to move it outdoors.

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Attar of Roses 2018-03-23. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

Attar of Roses is a fragranced pelargonia often used in perfume and rose oil. Its smell is very nice. Much nicer than most other fragranced pelargonias inb my opinion. I like it and would love to preserve it over winter. Indoors. In regular indoor temperature and poor winter light… I have no other option for storing it. But it is big, so where do I put it? Have to solve that before cold strikes.

Posted by nini in Flowers, indoor plants, pelargonias, Plants, 0 comments

A Visit to Ulriksdal Palace with Park

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

Even the striped clothing is part of the statues.

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The park. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

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

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

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

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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.

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

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

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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).

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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.

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Ulriksdals Palace. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The back of the palace is turned towards the sea.

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

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

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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…

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

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And the avenues continued further on in the park.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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.

Posted by nini in Flowers, Garden, Garden and Nature, greenery, Plants, 0 comments

Indoor plants in January

kitchenwindows, indoorgreenery

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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INdoor plants in the livingroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

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

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.

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Cuctus in bloom, 2017-12-30. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

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The small aloe vera in the bedroom window. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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Posted by nini in greenery, House plants, indoor plants, Plants, Urban Jungle Bloggers, 0 comments

Is this winter?

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Saskatoon. Very green leafbuds… Photo:©nini.tjader.2017

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.

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Verbena and digitalis. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

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Flowerbed, December 30th, 2017. Photo:©nini.tjader.2017

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

Ajuga reptans. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

alumroot

Alumroot. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

alumroots

Alumroots. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

digitalis

Digitalis. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

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

giantpoppy

Giant Poppy. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

flowerbed

Winter in the flowerbed.Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

blackberries

Blackberries. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

The blackberry bushes have large buds for next years leaves.

astilbe

Astilbe. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The astilbeflowers from last year have an interesting color…

raspberries

Raspberries. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

bulb

What? Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

garden, winter

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

By the birdfeeder the vegetation is just unordered…

hortensia, winter

Climbing hortensia in winter. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

snow

Winter snow. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

rhubarbbox

The rhubarbbox. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

winterflowers

Winterflowers… Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

pansy

Pansy in bloom in December. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

flowerbeds, entrance

Flowerbeds at the entrance. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

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…

flowerbed

Flowerbed at the entrance. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

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

honeysuckle

The yellow honeysuckle. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

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

beachrose

Beach rose. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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…

treestumps

Treestumps on the patio. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

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…

Posted by nini in Garden, Garden and Nature, greenery, Plants, 0 comments

My figtrees

figtree

The oldest figtree. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

figtreecutting

Figtree cutting May 20178. Photo:©nini.tjader.2017

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.

figtree

Planted figtree cutting, May 2017. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

figtree

The larger figtree. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

figtree

New branches on the old figtree. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

figtree

The new small figtree. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

figtree

The small figtree on August 8th 2017. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

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

figtree

Figleaves on the older figtree. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

figtreeleaves

Figtreeleaves. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

figtree

The old figtree with new leaves. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

figtreecuttings

Figtreecuttings 2017-10-23. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

fig

Fig 2017-11-07. photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

figtreecuttings

Planted figtreecuttings 2017-11-22. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

figtree

The older figtree. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

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Posted by nini in greenery, House plants, Plants, Urban Jungle Bloggers, 0 comments

Plants & Words

words, plants, walls

Plants & Words. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

This seasons #urbanjunglebloggers assignment is Plants & Words (#plantsandwords).

I don’t really “do” words in that way. Particularly not together with plants or about plants either. I don’t like having words on my walls, no matter what they say. I have always avoided having them. But I have one poster on one of my walls, the one above with only words on. It hangs just above a picture with summer flowers. So in a way they are plants and words… or?

bedroomwindow, plants

Bedroom window. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

I do plants though. And this time of the year it is pretty over-crowded with plants everywhere in my flat. Above is in my bedroom window where the pelargonias from outdoors are resting over the winter and some figtree cuttings are sprouting roots in vases. In the window aloe vera and cactuses.

kitchenwindows, plants

The kitchen windows. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

The kitchen windows are a jungle of plants. I keep moving them around presently to find the best solution. Some of the plants that have been outdoors over summer have been moved indoors. Some survive it, some die when they get indoors. Like the myrtle tree in the left window. It didn’t survive getting moved indoors so that window already looks different than in the picture. One of my rosemary plants also died when moved inside.

livingroom, livingroomwindow, plants

The livingroom window 2017-10-09. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

In the livingroom window the figtrees (two of them) take up a lot of space. Also here I have changed the look since the picture above was taken and the pelargonia got a new owner in town. This spot is changing (see previous blog post) all the time. 

But combining the plants with words? No. Not really. Just two posters in the whole flat that have words on them. The one below is Russian about May 1st. What else it says I have no idea. As I don’t understand (or read) Russian it is not so disturbing to have on the walls as something where you can actually read and understand its content. It is a dark spot so no plants would survive there.

So plants and words? No. No words in my space. Plants though I’ve got plenty of…

firstofmay, poster, words

Russian poster about first of May. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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Posted by nini in House plants, Plants, Urban Jungle Bloggers, 1 comment

The livingroom window

livingroomwindow, livingroom

The livingroom window 2017-10-23. Photo.©nini.tjader.2017

I have one window and one door to the patio in the livingroom. The livingroom window has a double marble windowsill. The window is west-facing out to the patio. I use that window for various flower pots that change over time with the seasons. Less flowers in the summer, more in the winter and a varying amount of pots in spring and autumn. In the autumn I move pots indoors before winter comes which adds to the number of plants there. In the summer I move pots outdoors which reduces the number of pots. In short: what is in that window change over the seasons.

To get more space for pots and plants I added a sideboard a couple of years ago. Over the cold season I also use some elevated plant-stands in front of the window for some of the larger plants, like the figtree for instance. Under the sideboard I keep the bird-food and some garden utensils that cannot be kept outdoors.

Here are some pictures of how the livingroom window changes over time.

livingroomwindow, livingroom, plants

The livingroom window 2017-03-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The red oxalis was just coming awake after winter and looked a bit decimated here.

livingroom, livingroomwindow, plants

The livingroom window 2017-06-15. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

In June the red oxalis looked much better. Here I also had moved down the Stephanotis Floribunda from its hanging position as it got too heavy to hang in the window after repotting with fresh earth. The fig trees by this time were outdoors again.

livingroom, livingroomwindow, plants

The livingroom window, 2017-07-10. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The red oxalis kept on growing after being re-potted. And so did the Stephanotis.

livingroom, livingroomwindow, plants

The livingroom window 2017-08-05. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

By the beginning of August my two stephanotis switched locations. The one that was here was moved to the kitchen and the one in the kitchen was moved to the livingroom. The largest Aloe Vera which used to sit in the corner of the window was moved to a plantstand in the bedroom and the large corokia cotoneaster which used to be in the kitchen was moved here instead of the aloe vera. The red oxalis just got bigger and bigger…

livingroom, livingroomwindow, plants

The livingroom window, 2017-09-19. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

When autumn approached plants started to move indoors. I also managed to sell my large red oxalis. One plant less. The two figtrees moved inside and so did the Australian wild pelargonia and the muehlenbeckia. The Australian wild pelargonia didn’t like to come indoors though and more or less died just a week later. So, it went into the trash. The Devil’s Ivy went into the bedroom to make space for the muehlenbeckia on the ceramic plantstand. The plant-light was put into one of the fig-tree pots and helps them survive the darker season indoors.

livingroom, livingroomwindow, plants

The livingroom window 2017-10-09. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

When the Australian pelargonia went into the trash I moved one of the white pelargonias to that spot. That was only temporary though until Ulla came to visit and brought it home to her flat.

I then moved the smaller fig-tree up onto the side-board, but it got a bit crowded there.

livingroom, livingroomwindow, plants

The livingroom window, 2017.10-16. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

I didn’t like this (above) at all. Too crowded. So re-arranged again by removing the stephanotis and moving the medium-sized aloe vera closer to the window. Also the muehlenbeckia got closer to the window. The removed stephanotis presently rests on a stool in the kitchen. That’s a temporary place for it. I really don’t know where to put it at the moment. So, below is how the livingroom window presently looks. That’s OK so far. Airy enough.

livingroom, livingroomwindow, plants

The livingroom window, 2017-10-23. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

As the chaise longue is up for sale presently, and some people are coming to check it out on Friday, I might change the look here again. If I get rid of the chaise longue I can re-think this corner and make it less crowded.

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Posted by nini in livingroom, Plants, Urban Jungle Bloggers, 0 comments

My Ginkgo Biloba is alive again

ginkgobiloba

Ginkgo Biloba 2016-08-14. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

The Ginkgo Biloba is an interesting plant. Above is how my Ginkgo Biloba looked in august 2016. Fresh green leaves. I bought it in spring 2016 at a garden fair. It lived indoors until the summer of 2017.

ginkgobiloba

Ginkgo Biloba 2016-01-28. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

Then winter struck. Leaves got yellow and fell off. By the end of January 2017 it looked like in the above picture. Then ALL the leaves fell off. Was it dead? I had no idea.

ginkgobiloba

Ginkgo Biloba 2017-06-10. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

ginkgobiloba

Ginkgo Biloba 2017-06-10. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

From the end of January until June 10th 2017, the ginkgo Biloba looked dead. No leaves. Not a hint of green. I really thought it was dead, but decided I’d wait and see if anything would happen with it. Until June 10th, now residing outdoors for the summer, the first hints of green finally appeared.

ginkgobiloba

Ginkgo Biloba 2017-07-01. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

By the 1st of July my Ginkgo Biloba started to look promising. The leaves were coming out and developing as they should.

ginkgobiloba

Ginkgo Biloba 2017-08-08. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

By the beginning of August green was showing in several places on the plant. Not developing fast, but…

ginkgobiloba

Ginkgo Biloba 2017-08-19. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

By the middle of August it started to look good. Green leaves everywhere.

ginkgobiloba

Ginkgo Biloba 2017-09-09. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

And now it looks like a proper Ginkgo Biloba plant again. Not lika year ago, but almost. Its color is lighter than last year , but at least it now has leaves everywhere and a second stem has appeared from its foot.

My Ginkgo Biloba has now moved indoors as autumn is more or less here. Not that cold yet, but…

Lesson learned: not to give up hope when it comes to the Ginkgo Biloba. It might look all dead and leafless, but it isn’t. It will lose it leaves again, and I hope it will again survive the winter and come again next year.

March 17th 2020
By the end of last summer (2019) I planted my Ginkgo Biloba in one of the flowerbeds outside. Thought it was old enough then to move outdoors. Remains to see if it survived this snowless and green winter or not. It is still too early to see. Will report.

June 10th 2020
Unfortunately my Ginkgo Biloba didn’t survive the winter in the flowerbed. It is now dead and burried… Just dug it up for further transport to the waste.

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Posted by nini in House plants, Plants, 2 comments

The Green Curtain

green curtain

The green curtain. Photo: ©nini,tjader.2017

I’ve written about this before, I know. That is, how I stopped using curtains in the kitchen and opted for a green curtain of plants instead. This green curtain has changed over time though so I thought I’d show some recent pictures of how my windows presently look in the kitchen. They will soon change again when some of the plants that are outside on the patio move indoors when the season changes to autumn. It is still summer-like outside, but we have already had some really cold nights. So, soon enough, plants will be moving indoors.

green curtain

The green curtain. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The name of the plant above is rhipsalis, a cactus-relative. More about it here.

green curtain

The green curtain. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The good about it is that it sifts the light through it and does’t make the kitchen dark. It hangs on the curtain rod above the south-facing window in the kitchen together with another green plant.

greeen curtain

The green curtain. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

I don’t think the green one to the right (with white stripes on the leaves) is a tradescantia, even though it is somewhat similar to them. Its “flowers” look more like the ones on pepperomia plants. I have no idea which one it is though. The pepperomia family is large.

green curtain

The green curtain. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

Above the two windows in the kitchen a large, and by now quite old, philodendron hangs on the curtain rods and follows the upper part of the window along the ceiling. I have had that one for years already in my previous flat. I know I cut it down a couple of times in my previous flat when I thought it got too tall (long). It had a period this spring and summer getting yellow leaves which fell off, but we are now past that period. It grows new stems again. And new leaves. I probably ought to fill in some fresh soil into the pot it grows in. Otherwise it doesn’t ask for much maintenance. As long as it gets watered it is happy.

green curtain philiodendron

The green curtain, philodendron. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

green curtain

The green curtain, philodendron. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

green curtain

The green curtains, philodendron. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

I have no idea where to lead it when it reaches the end of the second, west-facing, window. It will soon do that……

green curtain

The green curtain. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

In the corner between the two windows I have a plantstand (from IKEA) which presently houses one of my two stephanotis floribunda (doftranka in Swedish). I got them from a neighbour that moved north in June 2015. This one is soon up to the ceiling as well. It has grown a lot since I replanted it in a new, larger pot, with fresh soil this summer. The other one stands in the livingroom. 

green curtain

The green curtain. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

Above it hangs a “wandering jew”, a tradescantia. I have re-started that one several times since I got it as it periodically gets a bit ugly and looses all its leaves at the end that grows in the soil and only keeps the ones on its tops. I then cut the tops off and put them in new soil and -re-start it. Works really well.

green curtain

The green curtain. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

To the right of the tradescantia hangs two of Ikeas hanging planters, one attached to the other, with in total six (6) spider plants.

green curtain

The green curtain. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

They presently bloom and have lots of spider plant “babies” hanging down from them.

green curtain

The green curtain. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

These “babies” are actually ready to plant, but neither I, nor my neighbour, nor other friends, need any more of them.

green curtain

The green curtain. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

Its flowers are small and white. Rather nice actually. I’ll keep the “babies” and its flower hanging there for a while yet, as long as they look fresh, but in the end, I will probably cut them all off. There will be more of them again.

green curtain

The green curtain. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

My white orchid is blooming again. On a stem that dried out to half its length and then suddenly shot out a new stem. It is not that long ago since its previous blooming. On the windowsill behind it you can see a cutting from the philodendron. I took that off some time in the spring for someone who wanted a cutting. But it turned out to be too complicated to deliver it, so it still stands there on my window-sill. It took for ever for it to get roots, but now it has and its growing.

What I have on the window-sills presently isn’t all that interesting and it will change soon when I bring in some of the plants from outside. I have my six (6) orchids – which I presently test growing in water only – there and some other smaller plants.

Who needs curtains when you have plants? I have blinds though in case I want to hide from the world outside. I almost never use them.

green curtain

The green curtain. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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Posted by nini in decoration, greenery, House plants, kitchen, Plants, Urban Jungle Bloggers, 0 comments

Hail and thunder

Hail ongoing. Video filmed with my iPhone 7 from the door to the patio.

 

Yesterday at around 15:00 hrs there was mighty thunder – I actually jumped as it was so sudden – and then the skies opened. At first with rain, then came the hail, combined with rain……

Hail isn’t all that uncommon here at this time of the year but it was long since last time. It is fascinating. At the same time I worried for the greenery and flowers. There was a lot of hail.

The worst affected were the daylilies. There the leaves nearest to the house were broken. I didn’t remember that heavy rains and hail come down just on top of the daylilies from the roof. Now I was reminded. The hail remained on the ground around it for a couple of hours. Fortunately the hail didn’t take the budding flowers of the daylilies on their way up, only its leaves. Had they been up they would have been damaged. The greenery looked a bit sad for a while, but most of it was unharmed when I checked and shot the pictures.

hail, daylilies

Daylilies after the hail. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

I wonder how the summer-flowers and summer-plants were affected by the cold hail as it stayed for quite some time after it had stopped coming down. I was especially worried about the tomatoes, salads and herbs. They looked OK when I checked after the hail had stopped, and I hope they will continue to be OK. Outside temperature sank quite a bit with the hail.

Later in the evening it rained. The rain was OK and needed. This is a very dry season this year.

Here are some more pictures. Hover over an image to see text. Click on a picture to see a larger version. Reload page to make the images sort in a different order.

Posted by nini in Flowers, Garden, Garden and Nature, greenery, Outside, Plants, 0 comments

My outside place

outside place

Part of my outside place 2017-05-28. Photo: ©nini,tjader.2017

My outside place can finally be used. The warmth arrived and plants could go outside and everything be arranged.

outside place

My outside place 2017-05-20. Photo:©nini.tjader.2017

My outside place faces west from the wall and south from its entrance from the garden. It gets very hot there in the afternoon. On sunny days it is sunny the whole afternoon until evening when sun disappears behind the higher ground on the other side of the road.

outside place

My outside place from the entrance. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The floors in my outside place are of concrete and not that pleasant to walk on barefoot so I have two outdoor carpets, plastic, on the floor. I think they are already on their third year so they have lasted fine through rain and lousy weather. I take them in over the winter, before the snows begin.

outside place

Part of my outside place. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

Just outside the door I have this black wooden bench – which has cushions when weather permits – which I bought at Ikea the very first spring I lived in this flat, 2010. It is placed toward the wall and has cover from the upstairs neighbours balcony when it rains. Convenient… 

pots

Pots Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The top of the sofa has a small ledge where I can place various pots when needed. The naked plant in the middle of the picture is my ginkgo biloba plant… I am still unsure if it still is alive or not. Meanwhile it lives outdoors on the top of the sofa where it is warm and it gets as much light as possible. Still waiting for it to come alive again… it might, they say. To the left of it is a fragranced pelargonia from last year that survived the winter indoors. To the left of that a bought tomato-plant. I gave up on growing tomatoes from seed… At the right are seed-sown sweet peas that are coming along just fine. They will be planted in my large pot in the corner of the outside place when I get the plant they will live together with. That plant is still not available in shops. Too early yet.

outside place

Hanging plants at my outside place. Photo:©nini.tjader.2017

Just at the entrance from the garden to my outside place I’ve hung two pots on the railing. The one to the left is a red basil, the one to the right is a lavender. Just inside are white and red “stjärnöga”, Osteospermum. They last and bloom until the first frost some time in October if you frequently cut off flowers that are done.

Pots

Pots on the table. Photo:©nini.tjader.2017

On the table in my outside place I have two pots. The one to the left is a rosemary, which has bloomed also indoors for a long time by now. I keep cutting it, as I use it with oven-baked cleft potatoes regularly.  The one to the right is a myrtle. It has buds, but I am still waiting for it to bloom. Bought it at the garden fair this spring and it has been indoors until recently.

outside place

Part of my outside place.Photop: ©nini.tjader.2017

This corner of my outside place isn’t quite ready yet. The large black pot still have to get its plants. I am waiting for the climbing cobea to arrive in stores. It will live there in the corner and grow upwards on the trellis on the wall (it can grow upto 3 meters in one season). I haven’t had a cobea for the last two years. It is time for it again. It will live together with the seed-grown sweet peas that are ready for planting. My olivetree is outdoors as well now. You see it on the right in this picture.

wildpelargonia

Australian wild pelargonia. Photo:©nini.tjader.2017

On the high wall at the outside place hangs an Australian wild pelargonia which I bought at the garden-fair this spring. I will get whitish-pink flowers later on that smell like candy. I have never succeeded to save one of these over winter indoors so have bought a new one each year. Might try again. Oh. I got myself a wind-chime to hang outside. Got it from Ikea. I like the sound of it.

outside place

Plant under umbrella. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

I recently moved my figtree outdoors to the outside place. For the first couple of days I let it live under the umbrella, to protect it from the strong spring sun. Didn’t want to do the same mistake I did last year when the strong spring sun burned some of the leaves and made them fall off.

figtree

The figtree on my outside place. Photo:©nini.tjader.2017

The figtree is now out from under the umbrella. Haven’t seen any sun-damage so far even though the sun has been pretty strong the last week.

outside place

My outside place from outside. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

Along the railing of my outside place are three boxes with three bright red pelargonias in each one of them. As I live on the groundfloor I can have the boxes on the outside and even water them from the outside. Very convenient.

olivetree

The olivetree. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

My olivetree – which used to be small and compact… – has also moved outdoors and seems to like it. It is no longer small an compact. I cut off all dead parts of it in the spring, but not the long new ones. Still hesitating if to cut it more or not.

poppies

Poppies. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

Just outside the outside place the poppies have started to bloom. Just yesterday I removed a lot of poppies as they spread a bit too much. They are nice, but I won’t let them spread too much. Hard to take photos of though because it was a bit windy just then.

The day before yesterday friend Ulla and I spent some time on the outside place eating home-made (by me) frozen strawberry cheesecake with a glass of cold white wine (wine is Inycon, I really recommend it) in the sun.

My favourite season has finally arrived. May there be more days like these this summer.

outside place

Ulla on my outside place. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

Posted by nini in House plants, Outside, outside place, Plants, 0 comments

New Beginnings

 

figtree, new beginnings

New beginnings with new stems and leaves on my figtree. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

“New Beginnings” is this months theme for the Urban Jungle Bloggers . Just the right theme for this time of the year when talking about the plantworld.

figtree, new beginnings

Part of my figtree. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

At the end of March I decided I had to cut my figtree. Something I have never done before and have no experience with. I decided to cut at least one of the stems that grew straight out and made the plant larger than I wanted it to be. So I cut off that branch and dived it into two pieces after consulting the internet and some plantgroups on FaceBook.

One part of the cut off branch had no leaves and was put directly into soil in a pot with a plastic bag around it. I kept notice of what was up and down of that bit of stem before planting it. It just took a couple of weeks until it produced a small green thing on the stem. I hope that will be a new beginning for that piece of figtree…

figtree, new beginnings

Figtree cutting. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The top part of the cutting I put in a decorative vase with water. All leaves except one soon fell off, but on the cut branch in the water small white growth appeared pretty fast.

figtree, new beginnings

Part of my figtree. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

I hope those small, white things that appear on the cutting in the water are new roots?

With a bit of luck I will get two brand new figtrees after cutting off that branch.

figtree, new beginnings

New branches on the figtree. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The new branches and leaves are growing just fine (and fast) on the tree itself.

My figtree is, against all rules, kept indoors over winter, in regular house warmth. I give it extra light by a special plant-lamp. It loses some leaves over winter, but not all. When the branch got cut, it immediately produced two figs… If it is anything like the last time it did that, it will take a couple of months to get ripe and will be almost inedible.

figtree, figs, new beginnings

Figs on my figtree. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

Also one of my old cactuses is showing new beginnings. (Reload page to get images to sort in another order, click an image to see a larger version).

Apart form those two new beginnings I am again, against better knowledge, sowing all kinds of seeds. I am usually not very successful in that, but I keep on trying. Those are for outdoor plants though and will be covered in another post later on. Those are tomatoes and some flowers.

geranium, whitegeranium, new beginnings

White geranium, cut down. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

I cut down my white geranium to get more plants and to give the old one a new beginning. This is the only one I kept indoors over winter as I simply didn’t have space to keep more of them. This kind answers well to get cut down and made more plants from and did so this year as well.

geraniums, pelargonia, whitegeranium, new beginnings

New beginnings of the white geraniums. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

One of the small cuttings died since I shot this picture, but I will get at least three new white geraniums. These new beginnings will all get their own larger pots when they get big enough and I am sure that they will survive. They live outdoors on the patio over the summer.

geranium, fragranced geranium, new beginnings

Fragranced geranium. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The above is a fragranced geranium that also is a cutting from last years geraniums. It was two from the beginning, one died. This second one is growing though. The cutting started off in a glass of water where it got lots of roots. Only some time in January did I move them and put them into soil. Then its twin died, but this one survived. It needs more light to grow better. This spring has been poor of light and warmth, but hopefully that changes soon.

ginkgobiloba

Ginkgo Biloba Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

If the Ginkgo Biloba will get any new beginnings is doubtful though… Since I shot this picture two more leaves have fallen off and it is down to one rather withered leaf. I cannot yet see if the plant is dead or alive.

My oldest and largest aloe vera is very much alive though with lots of babies. Need to remove those, but waiting for warmer weather so I can take it outdoors. It is hard to handle it indoors as it is so big and heavy.

aloevera, new beginnings

Aloe Vera with babies. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

(And then there are the tomatoes…)

plants, houseplants, new beginnings

New beginnings. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

Posted by nini in greenery, House plants, Plants, Urban Jungle Bloggers, 2 comments