tuinverrassingen

Het is koud voor de tijd van het jaar en het regent veel. Toch schijnt op mijn vrije dagen op de een of andere manier het zonnetje en klus ik lekker in ons tuintje. Het mooie van de natuur zijn gang laten gaan en plantjes een kans te geven op te komen is dat er telkens verrassingen, kleine cadeautjes, tevoorschijn komen in de tuin. Een nieuw plantje... wat zal dit nu weer zijn? Er zit een knop in, wordt het een blauwe bloem of toch misschien smeerwortel? Ik ben heel druk met determineren maar dat valt toch nog niet mee. Zeker niet als de bloem nog niet bloeit...
Ik trof enkele weken geleden een geheimzinnige bloem aan waarvan ik nog steeds niet weet wat het is.
Hij staat tussen de zegge maar het is volgens mij geen zegge. Vorig jaar stond hij er nog niet en hij is tot nu toe de enige die ik mijn tuintje heb gezien. Wat is het? Mijn beste gok tot nu toe is wilde hyacint. Maar zeker weten doe ik het niet. Ik heb net nog even een fotootje van de bloem gemaakt, maar het lijkt erop dat hij niet meer in bloei komt. Een van de bloemetjes is namelijk al bruin en uitgebloeid. Zal het een mysterie blijven? Of zullen er volgend jaar meer in mijn tuin staan? Dat is het grote voordeel van natuurlijk tuinieren... je weet nooit welke cadeautjes je krijgt.
Weet iemand welk plantje dit is? Dan verneem ik dat graag!

foto genomen op 12 mei jl.

foto genomen vandaag 22 mei

smeerwortel?

may garden

De plantjes maken een groeispurt. En mij wordt het steeds duidelijker wat ik wil met de tuin. Vooral een tuin vol inheemse planten, al dan niet "onkruid", die goed zijn voor de beestjes en die ook nog eens weinig onderhoud nodig hebben. Want onkruid wieden hoeft niet meer...
Ik draag graag mijn steentje bij aan het behouden van onze inheemse biodiversiteit. We laten op dit moment veel verwilderen, dus geen gras meer maaien. Wat spontaan opkomt mag voorlopig blijven. Zelfs zevenblad, waar je overigens lekkere dingen mee kunt maken. Ik heb wat bijvriendelijke bloemen (inheems) ingezaaid. En gister hebben we nog wat lokaal inheemse plantjes erin gezet. Ik ben er blij mee en de dieren ook, getuige het vele bezoek! En dat levert weer veel vermaak voor ons op.

Het wordt steeds groener in de stad!

april garden

eindelijk begint het groen te groeien! ook meteen tijd voor een opfrisbeurtje.

en in de zon is het prima toeven op ons terras

january garden

Well, actually, it's february already... But I made lots of pictures of the garden in january. It's been winter... we had some severe snow during a couple of weeks. It made daily life difficult  (cycling to work was not an option) but it was a beautiful sight and the fresh snow smelled wonderful, especially on early mornings when it was still dark. On working days I used to start by cleaning our small terrace from the snow and feeding the birds. Apple parts, home made fat+seeds+fruit, raisins, seeds, bread, etc. They loved it. We have sooo many birds visiting our garden this year, even some new ones like the "kramsvogel", the turdus pilarus... (will not be making jokes about his name...) Kind of agressive and territorial. We call him "schrokkie (after Rocky) - one bird to rule them all..." But he is so funny! And the other birds keep coming back as well.

Meanwhile the plants have been under a thick layer of snow for some weeks and I was very curious how they would look after the snow melted. I am always surprised by the beautiful wonder of nature. After the snow had melted, the plants just picked up where the left (or stopped) when they disappeared under the snow. Even the delicate fearn-leaves and the big white flowers of the helleborus stood firmly again after a day. And under the layer of leaves the tulips, narcissus, muscari and galanthus (I finally planted some last autumn!) are growing slowly, but surely.... Last year I also planted one bellis perennis in our lawn - I just love a lawn full of daisies... and it is growing slowly but bravely as well! :-)

Last weekend, I just couldn't wait to work in the garden again. Het kriebelt!! I planted lots of bulbs in pots and I'm thinking about planting schemes, painting the walls (I don't like the yellow color of last year, it's too mediterranean) and sheds, and I started by building my own bamboo trellis. We want our walls covered with climbers. Last year I planted some hedera and ofcourse it does well. But it needed some help. So here's where the DIY trellis comes in. It looks great and is easy to make. I will continue making them for all the walls and will be planting many more climbers, such as hedera, but I also want lonicera and clematis. Ah, and this year we bought a real christmas tree, but promised we would plant it in our garden afterwards... so it is waiting on our terrace for that.

The last few days it has been very cold again, snowing and ice, and I don't feel like working outside for now. A good opportunity to think about + draw planting schemes...

garden 17.12.2012

It has been a while; much has happened and we were very busy. We had a death in the family (I will post later about that), organized an early christmas dinner and had a wedding to prepare for (as guests, that is). Last weekend I finally had some time to do some work in our garden again. I planted lots of bulbs! Just in time; they were already starting to grow while they were waiting in the shed.. It felt so good doing work in the garden again! This is the first autumn/winter I collected all the leaves that have fallen from the trees and left them in our garden, under the shrubs and trees. It's supposed to be good for the garden, the soil, the animals. So what's not to like? Last weekend I noticed that under all these leaves lots of stuff is happening. Plants/bulbs are growing but it's not visible yet because it's hidden under the leaves. Birds like to forage under the leaves as well. I guess my dear friends (not) the snails enjoy the warmth in the chilly winter there as well... I put up some extra food for the birds in the trees. I also put up christmas lights in the chinese (or is it japanese) cherry blossom tree. This tree is in bloom right now with lovely pink flowers and it looks so delicate and wonderful. I like the fact that we have a tree and some plants that are blooming in winter. I also added some wreaths with berries that the birds pick constantly. I don't mind. I have not taken many photos lately (so busy..) but will try and do so again. Here are some I made last months.

From late summer sun ....

To autumn rain and hail....

To winter!

And to last weekend...

Have a nice week!

garden 10.10.2012

Today I was reminded that I have seriously neglected the "garden picture of the month" or "garden at first sight" for most months.... :-(  It seemed like such a good idea at the time, but due to all the works at home I have not been able to do much in the garden expect for trying to keep up with mowing the grass (in which I have failed as well) and do some regular work needed. It has been busy. I would love to spend time in the garden today. It is cold (12 degrees) but the watery sun has just come through the clouds!

So, temperatures are dropping fast and summer was over very quickly this year. It took us by surprise. Last year we had a wonderful indian summer, but not this year. I like autumn very much too though. I am an autumn lover; I was born in October. I love the beautiful warm colors of the leaves and the smells of the trees. The autumn sun for me is much more beautiful than the summer sun. The autumn sun has a soft golden glow, magical. 

Plants have been moved, removed and new plants have been planted. Some succeeded, others didn't. I had to cut the branches of the lilac tree because it was impossible to walk on our garden path without hitting your head on the branches. The tree is old and is growing to one side, which becomes heavy. Due to some storms the tree has fallen down about 40 cm and consequently its branches are much lower now, such they had to be cut. We have also planted some evergreen helix hedera near our walls, that we would like to see much greener. I love hedera.

I still need to find a place for some new plants, that I bought or were given to me by neighbours and friends. These plants are on our terrace at the moment. I haven't found the time or decided on the place to plant them yet. Maybe today!

One of the surprises this year was a climber that grew from behind the wall and fences that we share with our neighbours. I am not 100% sure but I think it is Parthenocissus (Wilde wingerd). It's a really fast grower that I must keep in check, but I love how it covers our wall like waves of leaves and how its leaves are colouring yellow, red and purple right now. It is said to be family of the Vitaceae, and the wine leaves certainly look similar.

One of my wishes for my autumn garden is the Physalis alkekengi (lampionplant). Another magical autumn plant. I know it is a fast grower as well, but I just can't resist its lovely orange bells. Keep you posted!

working harder...

The ceiling is done! More than 2 months after starting the project. It took a lot of time, mostly because there was no time to continue the work frequently. And in between we had a much needed holiday too - during which we decided not to work on our house. But now the whole ceiling in our living room has been painted white and it looks delicious. Like a white marshmallow. Even the "ugly" part of the ceiling (one part is much better looking than the other) looks great. I am very happy. I was so happy that I started painting the ceiling in the hallway too. The hallway still needs a lot of work, after we removed the lowered ceiling and the layers of paint and wallpaper on the walls. That ceiling has been damaged very badly through the years. So I started renovating it last winter. And I continued only now, with painting it. It still needs a lot of work. But it will be great, I am sure!
Next big project will be painting the walls in our living room with a nice color! :-)