30 april 2008

Wordless Wednesday - Secret whispers


Visit the whole virtual gallery here

27 april 2008

Flowering bulbs

This is a delightful time of year. Sunny days and chilly nights make the spring flowers last... and thus we get plenty of time to rejoice!

Fritillaria meleagris has opened up its checkered flowers. It's an amazing sight!
I only wish they would stay for a couple of months....instead of weeks.


One of its cousins, Fritillaria persica, amazes me tremendously. Its amost black flowers add mystery to my garden.


I'm getting more and more fond of tulips. Tulipa tarda is a welcome sight this time of year. The yellow flowers open up each time the sun passes by.


As does it's relative Tulipa saxatilis. They are both botanical and very sweet. This one has a lovely scent.


Tulipa purissima is quite tall and very handsome! Its yellow flowers fade into a creamish white - an absolute favourite of mine!


Another tulip that is very pretty is Apricot Beauty. I'm getting more and more fond of tulips!


Red Paradise is also nice. It's got yellow splashes and a yellow centre inside.


Finally, I must admit that I'm fascinated by the tulip Rococo. It's quite weird looking - almost ugly - and yet so very beautiful... Don't you think?

On top of that - it's got a nice scent!

My husband is going to Amsterdam next week. I wonder if they have bulbs of tulips for sale this time of year...?

25 april 2008

Skywatch Friday

Soon, very soon the birches will be filled with green leaves, and we will be filled with joy and happiness...

Here you will find more contributions to Skywatch Friday.

20 april 2008

Spring cleaning

Yesterday I got a lot of energy from the sun. I fertilized my potted plants, in the wintergarden, and gave some of them larger pots. I put my Angel's trumpet in a big, red pot, together with an Abutilon, a pink Passiflora and a white Hibiscus.

I even hovered and tidied up a bit. Now, I feel satisfied and Summer is welcome to arrive whenever it pleases... My frog got clean water and a new stone arrangement to rest upon (not that I think he will notice, but he looks kind of pleased).

My Pelargoniums are outside under a roof - that way they will slowly get used to the sun rays. You can see them outside the sliding doors at the far end.

The sun is shining from a blue sky today as well, and as soon as it does, my spirits rise. This is a good time of year! My hibiscus collection has started to bloom - today this beauty greeted me as I went out into my winter garden to have my breakfast:
Now I'm going to do some work in the garden. The borders are waiting for me...

Hoping the sun is shining at you too! /Katarina

18 april 2008

15 april 2008

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

Carol, at May Dreams Gardens is the creator of Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. The 15th of each month we post about flowers in our gardens! Today, the 15th of April, my garden here in Sweden is still dormant - waiting for warmer temperatures. But there are some plants in bloom...

Pansies and primroses are always a pretty and welcoming sight:


The primrose 'Black Lace' is a great eye catcher. The petals are almost black:

And the white Daisy is lovely, so pure in colour, it goes very well with other flowers:


The Lungwort 'Trevi Fountain' is in bloom. This variety has an almost silvery foliage:


And the Hellebores continue to embellish my garden. A newcomer this year, is the hellebore 'Green Corsican' - a German hybrid with strong, upright stems and big, white and greenish flowers. It's stunning - I'm so glad found it!


The Caucasian Forget-Me-Not 'Jack Frost' started to bloom yesterday - just in time for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day!


I've also found some Wood Anemones in my borders - I wonder how on earth they got there?



The Arabis purpurea from Cyprus is still blooming - they're such adorable plants! I grew them from seeds last year and they've been blooming for months... They started just when the Snowdrops opened up their first flowers, and they're still at it!


Finally, a plant which isn't blooming but the foliage is so exquisite - both in shape and colour. It's a stonecrop - and unfortunately I've lost it's name... Does anybody know?


Happy Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, all of you!












13 april 2008

In my Winter Garden

We are experiencing an unusually long and chilly Spring, here on the west coast of Sweden. But inside my Winter Garden it's already Summer. Last year we added a heater and extra isolation to the walls and floor plus thermopanes to the roof. It's the best investment we've done, I think - it prolongs the lighter seasons a lot.

So far, only four plants in there are in bloom but pretty soon there will be plenty more. The Passion fruit 'Caerulea' is spreading it's gorgeous scent all over the room.


As does my Angel's Trumpet 'Salmon Perfection'. It's a fascinating plant - the flowers are yellow at first, before they gradually change into salmon and finally - orange.



Two of my pelargoniums are in bloom. Both of them are my own crossings which I made a couple of years ago. My crossings are named for King Arthur and his knights, and the first one that I want to show you today is Sir Kay. It's a crossing between Great Blakenham and Natalie. The double flowers are orange and the foliage is golden.


The second one is Sir Gawaine. It's a crossing between Great Blakenham and Crystal Palace Gem. The flowers are pale pink and the foliage is golden.


Wishing you all a very nice day! /Katarina

11 april 2008

Skywatch Friday

In the woods this afternoon...

More Skywatch Friday at Tom's.

Happy Skywatch Friday!

5 april 2008

Wild flowers in the woods

Walking my dog in the woods today, I brought my camera with me. The weather is overcast today, as you can see on this picture:


The Wood Anemones are out! They form a lovely green carpet underneath the trees.


Spring is the best season, I think. Listening to the birds and seeing all those lovely Wood Anemones made me light at heart.


Another wild flower that I found on my walk, was the Pile Wort. Round buds, opening up into a sweet little flower.


But as you can all see on the following pictures - the slugs are out as well... Evidently they have tasted the flowers. Nevertheless, Spring is here and I'm happy!


Do you have those two flowers in your country?

Wishing you all a Happy Spring! /Katarina

4 april 2008

My new Camellia - and an award


I would like to show you my newest love. It's a Camellia - my second one - and I think it's adoreable. The thing with Camellias are that they don't particularly like the Swedish climate; they find it a bit too chilly. So I try to make my Camellias comfortable during winter - in our winter garden. They seem to like it there, except for sunny days when temperatures rise too high. Very soon now I will move the pots outside...spring is here!




A couple of days ago, I received an award from Shabby-chic Cat's gardening Close-ups!. It made me feel very happy - and proud! I started blogging less than a year ago, and it's a joy! To be invited into other people's gardens and to learn about new plants ... it's just great!

By accepting this award, I'm supposed to pass it along to 10 other blogs that I find interesting and well worth reading.

It's hard to choose only 10 blogs - the following 10 are amongst the blogs that I enjoy, so...here I go:

Growing a Garden in Davies
Robin's Nesting Place
Greenbow
New Sprout
Jardim com Gatos
Ute och Inne
Heimdal
Hoe and Shovel
Claires Garden
Garden Joy 4 Me
This is for you:
Wishing you all a lovely weekend! /Katarina