HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL !!!!
UPDATE ON MY SUNFLOWERS
As promised, here’s an update on my sunflowers.
This was the biggest and largest of the six I sowed, they all took quite a battering of heavy rain and storm winds, I don’t expect seeds this time of year but the yellow is a bright spot in the garden. I think I’ll experiment next year with a few types from the shop. But the birds won’t go hungry, we always have a bag of mixed seeds for them and peanutbutter without salt.
We still have nice weather for the time of the year, apart from the few days with high wind and lots of rain. In the past it was normal to have night frosts in November or even earlier when I was a child (a loooong time ago). So 15 to 18 C° is good !
Have a great weekend and take care !
AN EXPERIMENT
Somewhere in September I decided to plant 6 sunflowerseeds (the beginning of Autumn here) As I was feeding the birds outside in the garden I saw a few sunflower seeds among the mixture of seeds. I filled 2 smal pots with potting compost and put 3 seeds in each pot. A few days later I saw the first seed had sprouted and the next few days they were all visible. I put them high up on a table as the slugs love young fresh plants . A few weeks later I planted them out in the garden , all 6 of them so now I have sunflowers in the garden. My husband called me crazy to start with sunflowers so late in the year. I have no clue what breed they are, they all have a different hights, some are in bud others in flower. So now I know I can start early with seeding sunflowers and seed some every 3 months or so, to enjoy them in Spring and Summer and Autumn. And I don’t even have to buy seeds as we always have a mixture of seed for the birds in our garden.
I think the buds are very pretty too.
I will let you know how they evolve. So far the weather is still arround 15 C° and at the moment there is no frost in sight.
I hope you all still enjoy the plants in the garden or on your balcony. Take care !
SILENT SUNDAY oeps, it’s Saturday today
THE FLOWERS WE MET IN THE NETHERLANDS
As always I look arround for flowers, plants and trees, not only on vacation. But I found a few gems on holiday,
Evening primrose or oenothera macrocarpa in a lovely sunny color
Deer hay or hypericum with soft pink buds.
I loved this malva with the dark purple veins
A wild rose along the road
A dark leaved elderberry wit pink flowers, what a beauty !!
Orange is the national colour in the Netherlands, so you see it everywhere and in everything, even in cakes, ice cream, fountains with orange coloured water, clothes…..you name it, they got it in ORANGE
We saw lots of wild orchids, but only this soft purple one but there were many of them.
This is the pretty flower of the hogweed plant (heracleum montegazzianum) but beware, it is dangerous, if you touch it you can get painful blisters.
This is a small hogweed plant, they can really get to 2 meters high and they come in huge numbers at the same place, it is a relative of the parsley herb.
I don’t know how this plant is called but it was about 3 meters tall and we saw it in many places, against that blue sky it was a adorable !
Thanks for visiting and take care. Enjoy all the flowers and plants in your neighbourhood !
SILENT SUNDAY
SILENT SUNDAY
THIS LOOKS LIKE SPRING !!!
It’s definitely looks like Spring now !!! It’s getting warmer slowly but surely.
I look forward to the rest of Spring .
Have great week, enjoy your garden or balcony and take care !
ALMOST SPRING
It is still Winter but there is also a little bit of Spring. I went to the arboretum near where I live and there were already plenty of flowers, ofcourse all those flowers were winterhardy.
And the bravest of all flowers over here in Northern Europe is the snowdrop, they are not bothered by snow or ice they always are the first to show their blooms.
Cyclamen coum is also winterhardy and performs year after year after year in white, pink and purple flowers.
Hammamelis, there were many hammamelis bushes, the flowers always look like they need a bit of ironing, they come in many colours.
Pieris japonica is preparing to bloom soon but they are already looking pretty.
A couple of black swans were having fun in the big pond , they couldn’t have choosen a better place to raise a family, they will be well protected in the arboretum.
Edgeworthia or paper bush was ready to open their flowers.
Not everything was ready to open their buds, like this prunus species. Maybe next time I visit the arboretum again.
In January we got twice as much rain as normal and very few hours of sunshine but that is about to change, light frost at night and sun during the day, we are all longing for a bit of sun here and we hope to have finally a nice Spring and a lovely Summer. Fingers crossed !
Have a great week and enjoy the beginning of a new year in the garden.
SILENT SUNDAY
GWENNIESGARDENWORLD 
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