GWENNIESGARDENWORLD

March 11, 2025

A WALK AROUND A PARK

Last week we had really lovely weather and the grandkids were free from school so we decided to go to a nearby park hoping to see signs of Spring. It was a lovely sunny day and about 18 C°. To our surprise there was still a lot of water everywhere, we had a very wet Winter but we thought the park would be dry by now. I took a few pictures so you’ll see that was not the case.

This was the only green thing we noticed, the branches of the tree above are reflected in the water.

All you can see is dry grass and water. The green trees you see are pines, they are always green.

You can see the sun is shining and the grass is dry. I quite liked this tree stump.

This is normally a dry area.

This is a marsh but it is usually a lot smaller.

There were not many waterbirds, just a few ducks and ofcourse birds in the trees, but there were a LOT of walkers and cyclists, all enjoying the sun we hadn’t seen in a long time.

Afterwards we went for a drink and something to eat across the road, it was packed with people. I think I can say we all enjoyed our day.

Today we are back to the cold again and we’ll have a few frosty nights this week , next week the temperatures will be on the up again and the sun will come back.

Still no patio …..

Thanks for visiting, enjoy your garden and take care.

February 17, 2025

ONE TWO THREE : DIVE!!!

Black swans looking for food. I found this quite amusing.

Have a great week all !!!

February 2, 2025

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.

January 13, 2025January 13, 2025

WINTER

We are having a bit of Winter, just a bit of frost and a bit of snow, nothing really out of the ordinary compared with what people in other countries get. I hope you are all safe and well.

I took the first pictures of 2025 as the frost made everything look a lot better.

Lonicera nitida, a wintergreen bush with small leafs but it grows really fast.

Euphorbia cariacias looking sad as they don’t like the cold.

My white camelia, already with buds.

Russian vine, taking over the garden, I think we need a professional gardener to remove it, it grows faster than the speed of light !!!! So beware and don’t plant it !!!!

Rhododendron in bud also as we had a soft and very wet Winter so far.

Viburnum tinus,a pretty wintergreen bush that can handle a bit of frost, it will soon bloom with soft white and pink flowers.

And my spineless holly who was already defrosting in the sun.

The frost makes the garden look very pretty and it brings a lot of the birds to our garden as we feed the birds and they have a bath in our pond. It doesn’t matter how cold it is, the birds want their daily bath.

Take care dear people and enjoy your gardens and balconies and keep safe !

December 21, 2024

MERRY CHRISTMAS

As you may already know I don’t put a Christmastree in my house for Christmas as I feel sorry for the tree’s, they have been growing for several years and all of a sudden they are cut and used inside where it is warm, and they are decorated with all sorts of things, pretty ,yes ofcourse, but then a few weeks later most of them are trown outside in the cold where they die, very few are replanted and used again. When you look at the pictures you can see how I decorate my home for Christmas, what you see is just a small part of the decoration. I try a different setting every year.

I WISH YOU ALL A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS !!!

ps . I know I have been a bad blogger this year due to all sorts of circumstances, and I hope to be blogging more frequently next year.

November 25, 2024November 25, 2024

BONKERS

The weather is completely bonkers, we went from freezing temperatures with snow, hail, sleet, storms and pouring raining to Spring overnight !!! Yesterday it was such a lovely Spring day with temperatures up to 18 C°, it was the “hottest” 24th of November ever ! It was good enough to sit outside on the patio for lunch or for afternoon tea, alas I do not have a patio yet, the bedding was laid a week ago but ever since it was too wet to lay the tiles. But I did a bit of work in the garden. Cos of the frost and the wind all the leafs came down.

As you can see my fig tree is still full of figs, unripe and not edible.

Here’s another part of the same fig tree.

When the patio is finished we’ll ask the gardener to do a lot of pruning everywhere in the garden, and a few tree’s must go as I want working in the garden to be easier for me, it is just getting too much, as you all know I am not a Spring chicken anymore. Ha !!

I’ll sent pictures of the finished patio and the pruned garden as soon as I can take pictures, when that will be will totally depend on the weather. We used to have 4 seasons, now we still have 4 seasons but they come unpredicted, a Summers day or two, Autumn for a day, then Winter for a few days and then all of a sudden Spring !!!

Have a great week all !!

November 19, 2024

MY CALLICARPA

I have a bush in the garden who gives lovely purple berries in Autumn, it really looks awesome. I couldn’t get a picture of the bush as it didn’t have the right background, every other bush has ugly leafs now and the leafs are falling, so I took a small branch and put it in a small vase.

This is a small branch of the Callicarpa bodinieri.

I hope your Winter will be good ! Take care !

November 10, 2024

SILENT SUNDAY

November 1, 2024

THE FIRST OF NOVEMBER

Today we remember our relatives and friends who died, it is a day people over here are free of work. We bring flowers to their graves. Not that we don’t remember them during the rest of the year but it is a custom here. My mother-in-law died a few weeks ago and she loved bold and colorful things so I bought her a plant with big bright yellow flowers to put on her grave. I know she’d love that.

It is a member of the chrysanthemum family.

And they finally started working on my new patio. Cos of all the rainy weather we had this year the work couldn’t get started but now we are getting two whole weeks without a drop (at least that’s what they promised us). Today the workers came and removed the top layer, my husband and son removed the tiles last week. This is how my patio looked this morning after the workers started.

The workers did a good job, they removed all the rubble and next week the groundlayer will be layed and that needs to dry for at least a week before they can start with the tiles.

I am already looking forward to Spring !!!!

Have a great weekend .

October 6, 2024October 6, 2024

A WALK IN A NEARBY ARBORETUM

A while ago I went to the arboretum hoping I could make a few nice photo’s. My garden is still a bit of a mess, a huge “bit” really. We are still waiting for the new patio we ordered in January but cos of the rainy days it wasn’t possible, my husband removed part of the old tiles, hoping we’ll soon get the workers in. So now the garden looks even messier !!

Here are a few of the pictures I took in the Arboretum.

The hydrangea panniculata did really well this year, that’s probably because they love wet soil.

I loved this pine with the silver needles on the outside.

This is a close-up of the pine above.

They had a beautiful banana tree, I always wanted one but it doesn’t really goes with the rest of my garden.

This is one of the two rosebushes who had a few nice flowers on display, and they do have many rosebushes.

This is the 2nd rosebush, also with pink flowers.

This white annual is called cleome hassleriana, over here people call it cat’s whiskers.

And this evergreen bush is absolutely lovely in the garden, with it’s bright yellow patches it always looks like the sun is shining. It also gives bright red shiny berries. It is called Aucuba Japonica. I have 2 of them in my garden.

We already had very cold nights for the time of the year, close to freezing, soft sunny days and warmer days with rain. We have had 12 month’s in a row with more rain than normal for us with only a few warm days here and there, one or 2, never a week . I found it quite frustrating as it was difficult to work in the garden. I hope you all had a lovely Summer.

Take care !!