• 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…

  • summer,  travel

    Oh Åland Part 2

    My weekend in Åland with my fellow members of Blomsterodlingens vänner, included three more private gardens that occasionally and by appointment open their doors. A common denominator seemed to be an appreciation of Fuchsias and two out of the three gardens had a really good Kolkwitzia amabilis in flower. The Kolkwitzia is one of those shrubs that really benefit from just that ½ zone of a milder climate. I have two, but they have barely flowered a little bit. To their defense, I have to say that they are probably planted where there is a bit too much shade. Full sun seems to work best. Ahvenanmaan viikonloppuni Blomsterodlingens vänner:eitten kanssa sisälsi vielä…

  • summer,  travel,  woodland

    Oh, Åland Part 1

    Oh, Åland indeed, Åland [ˈoːland], the small group of islands between Finland and Sweden which are a bit special and very beautiful. I visited the islands with Blomsterodlingens vänner i Finland, BOVarna, and as my friends in that club are most likely to read this post, I am going to write mostly in Swedish for a change 🙂 Kävin Ahvenanmaalla Blomsterodlingens vänner i Finland, BOVareitten kanssa,  joten oletan että minulla olisi tähän enimmäkseen kiinnostuneita lukijoita  ruotsiksi joten jatkan sillä 🙂 Jag besökte alltså Åland med Blomsterodlingens vänner i Finland, BOVarna, för litet mer än en vecka sedan. Det var Bovarnas årliga trädgårdsresa för i år som den här gången gick inrikes. Vartannat år reser…

  • travel

    Cyprus Sideline

    I spent a long and wonderful weekend in Cyprus last weekend when two of my good friends got married there. I had never been to Cyprus before and not surprisingly, I was quite taken by all the wonderful flowers that bloomed very nicely.   The whole wedding got a bit more suspenseful than what was bargained for, as it actually rained the day before and on the wedding day and the reception and ceremony were planned to be held outdoors. The groom quoted Alanis Morrisette (in Ironic) “It’s like rain on your wedding day” on his facebook status, supposedly it shouldn’t rain in Cyprus after April.. Bougainvillea, as in the first picture.…