garden

Jul

2019

Daylilies, summer 2019

Daylilies 2019. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

I love daylilies and have three kinds of them in the garden. They originally came from a flowerbed in the housing community that were re-made and we had the free take of whatever grew there before the remake. So I got these three kinds of daylilies. They are well established where they grow now in my garden. When it rains they get a “waterfall” from the roof right down on them. Which they actually love. Apart from water I feed them nothing else. Sometimes in the spring might add some fresh soil on them. In the winter they totally disappear and start new again when spring arrives. Each flower blooms only one day. But, as there are several buds on one stem, they have a long blooming-time. When wilted, I cut off the wilted flowers. When the leaves get yellow, I take off those too.

Here some pictures of this years daylilies which started blooming jus a little over a week ago.

Daylilies 2019-04-22. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Daylilies 2019-06-27. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Dayliles 2019-07-07. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Daylilies 2019-07-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Daylily 2019-07-21. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Daylily. The dark-red one. 2019-07-24. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Daylily. The red-yellow one. 2019-07-24. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Daylily, the peach colored one. 2019-07-24. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Daylilies. The peach-colored ones. 2019-07-26. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Daylilies. The dark red ones. 2019-07-26. Phopto: ©nini.tjader.2019

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.

Feb

2019

The ugly season and pelargonias

The garden, 2019-02-16. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

It is now officially the ugly season. The period between winter and spring. And the time for the pelargonias to wake up.
Snow is gone – hopefully we will not see any more snow this season.
Greenery hasn’t woke up yet. But it will the next couple of days as warmer weather has been promised.
It is still cold outdoors. One day it rains. The next it snows. The next it rains.

icy, — Icy 2019-02-09. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Or sudden frost and really cold nights that makes it next to impossible to walk outdoors on sidewalks and walkways. The green grass is about to wake up, but not really yet…

Gustav wounded. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

Gustav, the neighbour cat, got wounded catching a fat rat. Gustav is fine now and healing fast. He caught the rat that for some time was stealing bird-food and even climbed the metalrod to get to the feeder. I’ve removed msot fo the bird-food since I saw him/her the first time. Bird with a tail in the feeder? No thanks.

Dead rat, 2019-02-19. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The rat is dead and went in to the common bin. Good riddance… Gustav killed it and brought into his mom and left it on her office floor… I am grateful that he doesn’t consider me being his mom so he has to bring me such gifts…

Mårbacka pelargonia. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

With the increasing daylight, the few pelargonias that have survived the winter and the dark are waking up. Above is a cutting that came from the large Mårbacka pelargonia as it broke off from it when I moved it indoors in the autumn.

The mother plant of the Mårbacka pelargonia. Photo ©nini.tjader.2019

The motherplant has woken too. I need to cut it down soon and make more cuttings from it. It is growing high. Presently it is 65 cm high from earth up.

Bontrosai pelargonia. Photo: ©ninitjader.2019

The Bontrosai pelargonia – which originally, a year ago, was the top of Ulla’s Bontrosai – is ridiculously high, 75 cm from earth up. It too needs to be cut down, get a new pot, and get siblings. Any day now. I have waited for the daylight to increase.

snowdrop, springflower — Snowdrop, 2019-02-17. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

The first springflower, a snowdrop appeared a week ago. I have seen the leafs of the crocus coming too, but so far no flowers. But soon.

I long for the real spring, warmth, more light, no frost…

Meanwhile when waiting for warmer weather I go 3 times a week to the gym. Above my gym group on February 4th 2019. Till in the middle with Anette our trainer had birthday that day.

Present knitting, a greenish cardigan. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

And I knit (will return to more about that another day). Presently a multi-coloured cardigan from top to bottom. First sleeve almost don, second to follow.

yarn, book, needles — Bought on fair. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

I also visited the Sy- & Hantverksmässan, also called Syfestivalen, on Februari 15th with friend Ulla. I visit this fair whenever it occurs, which is twice a year. The above is what I got this time. The five balls of Opal yarn I won at a contest on the homepage of the fair. The six red skeins will become a simpla sweater when I am done with the cardigan above. This time from a Norwegian pattern that I bought on Ravelry. Looking forward to start it… I try not to knit more than one thing at the time and never start the next project until the one I am working on is done.

yarn, pattern — Yarn and pattern. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

And meanwhile the jungle in the kitchenwindows is still there.

kitchenwindows, kitchen — In the kitchen, 2019-01-27. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2019

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

Sep

2018

Birdbaths in the garden

Birdbath in the garden. The second birdbath in the background. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

During this hot and sunny summer (not ended yet…) it became obvious that the birds and the bees and the bumblebees need water. They got thirsty, like we humans too. I’ve always had birdbaths in the garden for that reason. Occasionally I’ve seen a bird or two drink from them, but seldom bathing. Now I’ve got two (2) birdbaths. But almost no birds. Stopped feeding them in the middle of the summer. It got too expensive.

Birdbath. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The green one above with the stone in it (an island for bees and bumblebees) I’ve had for a couple of years. Got via my neighbour from her ex-husbands sister who lives in a flat and don’t really needed it. Ceramics, glazed. A little bird on the edge of it.

Birdbath. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

The second birdbath, above, is of concrete. Got that recently from my newest next-door neighbour. He got it from the previous owner of his flat who left it in the garden when they moved on. As the current neighbour didn’t use it and tucked it away under a bush and a jumping-platform, I asked if he wanted to keep it or if I could have it. He gladly gave it up and I moved it to my garden instead.

Both sit on top of pieces of old tree-trunks to get them up somewhat from the ground.

Do the birds use them? Not what I’ve seen. But the cats do. They love drinking from them.

Important with birdbaths (or drinking stations for the cats) is to regularly change the water in them so it is fresh and free of drowned insects. The green one I take in over winter as I am afraid it otherwise will freeze and crack. The concrete one I don’t think I have to take in over winter. It is concrete. Should withstand cold weather and snow and ice. I’ll leave it there.

The grass got green again after we finally got some rain. Grass is recuperating fast.

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

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

Mar

2018

Decision about sofa

Sofa, Karlstad 3-seater. Photo: Ikea

Sofa decision.

I made a decision about the sofa.

It will be an IKEA KARLSTAD 3-seater with light grey cover. And not the new DELAKTIG I previously thought I would buy. This is the same model as I have now, just a 3-seater instead of a 2-seater, and with a cover that you can wash yourself in the washing-machine, which saves a lot of money if you need to get it cleaned.

My present KARLSTAD 2-seater sofa. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

I’ve always liked the simple lines of the KARLSTAD sofa. It is also comfortable to sit in. I just need a slightly longer one that you in case of need can put up a night-guest in. The present sofa is way too short to sleep in. I also need to be able to clean the cover in the machine. And to get a more stable sofa. The present one is damaged in one corner where a screw fell into the armrest together with what is supposed to hold the screw. I got a new screw from Ikea, but what is supposed to hold it is for ever inside one of the armrests. The armrest to the right in the picture can brake at any time.

The price for the KARLSTAD 3-seater with the light grey cover is also very attractive. Even adding the cost for the delivery and the getting rid of present sofa, it is still much cheaper than the DELAKTIG one which I at first thought I’d get.

Ikea DELAKTIG sofa modules. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2018

So, it won’t be one of the Ikea DELAKTIG modules plus cushions as I previously thought. The KARLSTAD 3-seater with the light grey cover is so much cheaper and it is still a good enough sofa.

As soon as the snow outside is gone (it still isn’t) I will .order the sofa. The only way to get it into the living room and the old one out is doing it via the patio and the garden. As long as the snow hasn’t melted fully that is a very slippery and wet way to go. But soon…

The way through the garden. Photo: ©nini-tjader.2018

Dec

2017

Is this winter?

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.

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.

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. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

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. 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.

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.

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

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

Blackberries. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

The blackberry bushes have large buds for next years leaves.

Astilbe. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

The astilbeflowers from last year have an interesting color…

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.

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.

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

By the birdfeeder the vegetation is just unordered…

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.

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.

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… Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

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

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

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.

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 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.

Crocus

Thyme

Oregano

Carnations

Parsley

Crocus

Lemon balm

Mint

Moss on treestump

Parsley

Oregano

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…

Oct

2017

Between the rains…

Entrance from the garden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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 patio preparing for winter. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

The patio preparing for winter. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Rain. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

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

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.

Cobea in bloom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Cobea mixed with climbing hortensia. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Cobea on the wall.. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Cobea flowers 2017-10-09. Photo ©nini.tjader.2017

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…

Cobea flower. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

Fascinating flower…

Honeysuckle on the bow. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Honeysuckle 2017-10-09. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

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

Echinacea. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Echinacea. Finished for the season. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Anemone hupehensis. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Hosta. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Virginia Creeper. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Orpine. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Amelanchier alnifolia Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Flowerbed along the plank. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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

Flowerbed. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Flowerbed. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

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.

Part of the garden 2017-10-09. Photo: ©ninil.tjader.2017

Aug

2017

Summer flowers

Summer flowers. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

There are plenty of summer flowers in our garden. They come and go over the summer season. Some come in early spring, early summer, or in the middle of the summer or, like now towards the late summer. In most cases I let them run wild and grow where they like to grow. Except for those planted in the flower beds, but those are not covered here. Some are planted from seeds over the years. Others the birds have brought, like the smaller red and orange poppies and the digitalis. Yet others have spread by themselves over time.

I love the summer flowers. They bring color to the garden. I have plenty of different flowers and I think they now follow each other in time for blooming in a good way. It has taken a couple of years to get to that. The bumble-bees and the bees love our garden and there is no shortage of either.

This has been a rather odd summer as it has been extremely dry. In many parts of Sweden watering the garden has been forbidden for that reason. Not in my area though we have been asked to use watering in the garden sparingly. That is clearly seen on the lawns which are more brown than green. Watering the lawns has not been prio number one. Watering the flowers and shrubs and so has been more important. The dry conditions have also caused some of the flowers to bloom earlier than usual, and some later than usual. Some have become taller than usual and others smaller than usual. All have had shorter blooming seasons than previous years.

Summer flowers in the garden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

Below is a gallery of some of the summer flowers in no particular order.
A rather wild garden… Enjoy.

Reload page to see them in a different order. Dubbel-click an image to see a larger version. All pictures are ©nini.tjader.2017 and shot by me.

Aug

2017

All about the garden and greenery

It is all about the garden and greenery this time of the year. The garden is where I spend as much time as possible. I need the light, the sun and the fresh air. I can be inside when it gets cold and dark again. Now is for the outdoor life.

It has been an unusually dry summer though and the greenery is suffering. What is supposed to be green isn’t really.

Our small piece of lawn is far from green. The grass is so dry you can hear it brake when you walk on it. I don’t water the lawn. That is a waste of water when there is a water shortage as it is this year. In many parts of Sweden it is totally forbidden to water the garden. Not here though, but saving the water is a recommendation. I do water the shrubs and the flowers and such. I don’t want them to die.

In parts of the garden you get the illusion though that it is all green and lush. It is just that, an illusion.

This is the view of the garden from my south-facing window. The high plants in what I call the wild flowerbed are green. But this dry weather is affecting even those plants. They are taller than ever and their flowering-time is shorter than ever. The flowers are done flowering in a very much shorter time than they use to. But there are flowers because I water this area.

Above is the view out over the garden on July 8th. The flowers in this flowerbed were all pink at that time. They are finished now. The green bushes are black currants. We picked them shortly after I shot this picture. We actually had more black currants than ever before this year, and they were also larger. The neighbour and I got 1.5 liters of berries each. Probably because these bushes get watered regularly.

Just around the corner outside my kitchen windows it looked like this at the same time.

Above how it looks from the parking into the garden. Since we have finished the rhubarb (which was better this year than the last, but not really good). Considering the unusually dry summer, it is as green as it can be.

In the backgarden, behind my patio, the rose-bushes bloom as never before to the delight of the bumble-bees. We thought of digging them all up in favour of planting something more useful and edible, but maybe not… ? At least the bumble-bees love them and they are beautiful when they bloom.

These roses are terribly invasive and spread via its roots. That’s why they should be taken away and dug up – which is hard work and a lot of digging. Most of our garden (mine and my neighbour) were covered with these roses some years back. The entire corner between our flats actually. And all the way around and past and behind my patio too. We have done a lot of digging to get rid of them. What is in the backgarden is what remains. Every spring I cut them down to about 20 cm in height. This is how much they grow in one summer. And it has so far been a very dry summer. Without getting any extra water, they still survive… It adds greenery to the garden… but…

Jul

2017

The “secret” garden 2017

Our “secret” garden

In June 2015 I wrote a post in my Swedish blog about the “secret” garden, as it was then. Now it is time for a follow-up about how it looks today.

I take a lot of pictures of the garden and what is growing there, both with the purpose of publishing on the this blog and my blog in Swedish, and for Instagram and FaceBook. I also do it for myself to keep track of what is growing there and how it develops over time. It is fun to compare over the years and to see what works and what not.

I call it the “secret” garden as it is a bit hidden away behind the noice-reducing fence. Also, you don’t see it until you go to the end of the parking outside it and look in around the corner. So not many are aware of this garden, hence the “secret” garden.

The garden is a co-work with my neighbour as we share the corner between our flats. We both live on the ground-floor. My patio and my kitchen-windows are straight ahead. The window to the right are of my neighbours bedroom. The housing cooperative doesn’t do any work in our garden-area. We take care of it ourselves. Except the lawn-area beside the parking.

The black bucket with the peas, salad and parsley in the picture above has been moved from there since I shot the picture. Instead a spirea bush has been moved to that spot.

Personally I also have access to the backgarden behind my patio and the noice-reducing fence, an area that it is impossible to reach without passing my patio.

The neighbours on that side can only reach this area outside their windows if they climb out through their windows. The end of the backgarden is filled with thorny rosebushes. We have planned for a long time to remove them and plant something better there… I removed that maple-tree in the picture below just yesterday. But it will probably reappear… It always does.

The fence was really stupidly built. We hade big problems a couple of years back when the walls of the house were re-painted. The painters had to carry one item at the time to that part of the house. I objected at the stupidity to build the fence like that already before it was built, but … decisions were already made and they were unwilling to re-think. They might have to re-think one day as it is impossible to get around the house as it is.

Much has happened in the garden since our mirabelle-tree was taken down, soon two years ago in October. This is the second summer without the tree. It changed the garden. In hindsight the removal of the tree was to the good even though we then were upset about losing our tree (and its fruit). We’ve got another kind of greenery in the garden without the tree competing for water and light and it has become much lighter as well.

This is how the garden looks today. Click on an image to see a larger version, re-load the page to make the gallery resort images in another order. Hover over an image to see an explanation.

Wild oxalis

Lavender

The rose

Helenium Moerheim Beauty

By the birdbath

Outside my kitchen window

Flowerbed nbr 3

Lilac and lambsears

Entrance to my patio

Climbing hydrangea

Malva

Pelargonias and thyme

Lambsear with bumble bee

Aquileia by the birdbath

The flowerbed beside my patio

Hosta

Pelargonias and yellow honeysuckle

Pansies

Blueberries

Hollyhocks

Flowers by the birdbath

Bluebells

Honeysuckle on the bow

Mint

Pink poppies

Pelargonias and flowerbed beside my patio

Bushes outside one of my kitchenwindows

Flowerbed nbr 1

Black currants

Bushes in the corner

The box

Flowerbed beside my patio

Honeysuckle

White allium

Pelargonias and pots on the railing

Flowerbed nbr 2

Flowerbed by the parking

Rhubarb

Mini carnations

The corner between me andmy neighbour

Astrantia major

Honeysuckle

The passage from the backgarden to the frontgarden

Flowerbed by the bird-feeder

Jul

2017

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.

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.

Hail on the salad and parsley.

From indoors.

Hail on the grass.

Hail on chair on the patio.

Basil with hail.

Sweet peas with hail.

Hail on the grass.

Hail on the way to the backgarden.

The drainage couldn’t cope with the hail that came down from the roof.

Daililies with hail.

Hail on the grass.

Jun

2017

New flowerbed

New flowerbed has been created.

Late last year we created two new flowerbeds along the fence, That turned out well. Already then we thought we might create a third flowerbed, as there were enough space for it and it looks nice with plants along the fence. Just looking at the fence isn’t all that exciting. Both I and my neighbour can see those flowerbeds from our flats. So last week I started digging.

The worst with digging for a new flowerbed is to get the grass off. That is hard work.

Next step was to create a border around the new flowerbed and to add fresh nourishment and earth.

To create the border around the flowerbed was no problem as we had collected quite a lot of nice round stones for this purpose not that long ago. We had to go buy fresh earth though. Nourishment (earth with cow-dung) we had half a sack so that was added first. Then the fresh soil. And then plants.

The next step was to decide which plants to have in the new flowerbed. Two of our alumroots/heuchera had long begged to be moved to a place where they would get more space to grow. They com ein a lot of colors and we have four of them in different colors. Two of them had so far grown just to the right of the lambsears (above). So those two I dug up and moved to the new flowerbed. You see the green one at the back and a purple green one at the front in the picture above. Now the lamb’s ears can spread even more…

It looks perfectly normal without the heuchera here in this flowerbed.

The above purple alumroot/heuchera also needed to be moved as it was slowly disappearing under the hosta at its side. so I dug that up as well.

After the third heuchera was dug up I added some stones at the backside of the flowerbed and some sticks in it as there are plenty of bulbs for springflowers in the ground and I don’t want the cats to dig them up. I also dug up some of the anemone sylvestris that had spread to that same area and moved them as well to the new flowerbed. I also dug up some Japanese anemones (anemone hupehensis) that had disappeared under the largest hosta outside the patio where it would get no light.

When the planting was done and watering too it looked like in the picture above. The sad plants top the left are the Japanese anemones. There is space left top the right of them as they have a tendency to spread out if they like the place where they grow. They didn’t like being moved though and leaves immediately wilted.

One of the alumroots also hung at first after being replanted. It has recovered since though and today looks just as fine as the other two alumroots. The Japanese anemones look very sad though but I think they are still alive. Keeping an eye on them… I will have to cut off the leaves I think, but I will wait a few more days before I do. It might help them recover though.

Three flowerbeds along the fence.

So, now there are three flowerbeds along the fence. Much nicer to look at than just the fence and the grass. The two we created last year are coming along just fine and looks like in the pictures below. All plants in them have been moved from the long flowerbed along the wall of the house, which got too crowded over the years.

This one (called number two…) got some new plants this spring, to the left of the left astilbe.

I added two ajuga reptans (with nice blue flowers) that creeps along the earth and spreads. Have to keep an eye on those so they don’t take over the entire flowerbed. If it grows too much, I’ll move some of it to another location. I also added two other plants with yellow flowers which are low and can stand dry and poor circumstance. They have flowers now, but not the entire season.

In flowerbed number one (closest to my flat) the plants are coming along fine as well. They have grown a lot the last couple of days and have changed quite a lot since I shot this picture. The three green plants at the upper right will become quite tall later in the season. They just now started growing.

Otherwise… everything is growing with an amazing speed and all is green and lush. I love this season. Summer is here.

Summertime

The backgarden

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Drought didn’t kill the garden

Springtime, summer, garden

Sofa decision.

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Our “secret” garden

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New flowerbed has been created.

Three flowerbeds along the fence.

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