• events,  greenhouse,  indoor,  shopping

    Fair Confessions

    I wasn’t going to attend the fair last weekend at all, but since my brother and his wife were going to the house building part of the fair I tagged along anyway. As expected there wasn’t a lot to see, but there were a few minor nice things. Some of the vendors that usually come to the shows were there, but some were missing. A lot of them were selling stuff that isn’t really suitable for the Finnish climate, but the kind of stuff I buy anyway, since I’m fortunate enough to have my wonderful greenhouse and I kind of know what I’m doing – at least most of the time… En…

  • events,  indoor,  spring

    Fair Start

    I visited Turku, the old capital last Saturday for a meeting and since I was there I decided to go to the gardening fair that was there as well. It used to be so that the “big” gardening fair was held in Turku and Helsinki on alternating years. These days Helsinki throws one each year but one that is strictly more about gardening every other year, although that might have changed. The Spring Fair as it’s now called will open this Thursday. I’m not sure I’ll even attend since I already saw the one in Turku and Helsinki will be missing some major players this year. But, if you want…

  • events,  shopping,  summer,  travel

    A Day Trip To Estonia

    A wonderful lady over at Klorofylli.com, a gardening site with an active forum of Finnish gardening enthusiast, decided to arrange a day trip to Estonia a few weeks ago. I was very happy to join the trip. Our main stop was Nurga Puukool, a really good nursery with an adjoining arboretum that was hosting a small fair for smaller nurseries. We went there by a large bus, took the first morning ferry and started out with the wonderfully picturesque Nomme market. From there on, we continued to Nurga Puukool which is a really good nursery, especially for pine enthusiasts, otherwise it is really good but not exceptional. The adjoining Ellamaa…

  • travel

    The Imperial Flower

    Peonies have been cultivated in China for at least 1500 years, so it’s not surprising that the Chinese can show them off in spectacular ways. Peonies are featured in art, in everyday life and in spectacular plantings. They are probably best celebrated in Luoyang where I visited the famous Peony Festival. The Festival is not one event, but fabulous plantings in several parks with a lot of commercial (I’ve never before seen so much so overt capitalism as in China) activities surrounding them. Even the hospital is peony themed – Sairaalakin on pioniteeman mukainen – T.o.m. sjukhuset följer piontemat Pioneja on kasvatettu Kiinassa ainakin 1500 vuotta, joten ei ole mikään…

  • greenhouse,  indoor,  Kitchen garden,  media

    The Final Fair Pictures

    I took some pictures in the mornings before the fair opened; my 50mm lens gave some interesting shots. I’m new to the lens, but I’m beginning to see the point of it. I still have a lot to learn, since I can see what isn’t quite right in several pictures.. Otin jonkin verran valokuvia Kevätpuutarhamessuilta aamuisin ennen kuin ne varsinaisesti avattiin, sain mielestäni ihan jänniä kuvia 50mm objektiivillani. Se on suhteellisen uusi hankinta ja alan vähitellen oppimaan sen etuja, mutta näen myös selvästi mitkä asiat eivät aivan täsmää näissä kuvissa.. Jag tog en del foton på vår avdelning på mässan på morgnarna före den öppnades, jag tyckte att en del…