• spring,  travel

    Jardin de Valérianes

    In contrast to Château de Vandrimare which had been in the same family since 1492 (!) and which I just wrote about, Jardin de Valérianes is a smaller creation by its current owners. The garden was in two parts on each side of the road with a lot of interesting perennials, some roses and a lot of cool (as in modern hybrids) shrubs and smaller trees.Calycanthus floridus, might have been a particular hybrid. Paeonia delavayi var. lutea An azalea with Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ Cercidipyllum japonicum ‘Rotfuchs’ A double Rubus, and at the moment I can’t remeber what the hybrid is called.. Trillium, might be T.flexipes

  • spring,  travel,  woodland

    Le Vasterival

    Le Vasterival was the garden that I was most looking forward to seeing on our trip. It is world renown and it is one that I had not been able to visit before, as you can only visit it as part of a group. It was created by Princess Greta Sturdza and her husband Prince Georges Sturdza of Moldavia in the mid-twentieth century and Princess Greta continued to develop it until her death a few years ago.It is a spectacular collector’s garden that still manages to be very beautiful. The plants are planted in naturalistic groupings, mostly in a woodland setting. The combinations are stunning. An exquisite Acer palmatum All sorts…

  • autumn

    The Last Soldiers

    It’s the darkest time of the year and today’s stroll through the gardens with my camera didn’t yield a single shot. There have been a few brave flowers and nice autumn leaves earlier this month, so these pictures are of them. Vuoden pimein aika on käsillä ja tämän päivän kamerarundi ei tuottanut ainuttakaan kuvaa. Kuvasin aikaisemmin tässä kuussa viimeisiä kukkia ja hiukan syksyisiä lehtiä ja niitä näkyy nyt näissä kuvissa. Årets mörkaste tid börjar vara här och dagens runda genom trädgården resulterade faktiskt i noll nya bilder. Tidigare den här månaden har jag fotat lite av de sista blommorna och lite höstlöv så det är dessa som nu syns på…

  • autumn,  greenhouse,  woodland

    Woodland Joys

    I haven’t really written a lot about the woodland, I was a bit too busy in the spring when it was at it’s best, but there are some good bits after that too. The woodland is situated between my garden and my parent’s garden and is a common project with my mother. We have some rhododendrons, azaleas, asters, and nice shrubs there. In the spring there are plenty of bulbs and wood anemones. Right now the fall colors are coming in, but there have been nice parts during the summer as well. En ole oikeastaan kirjoittanut niin paljon metsäpuutarhastani, olin niin kiireinen keväällä silloin kun oli yksi sen kohokohdista, mutta…

  • summer,  travel,  woodland

    In the Rhododendron Woods

    It’s the time of the year when the Rhododendrons are flowering at their best and this year I made it to the Rhododendron Society’s summer trip to Turku and the Ruissalo Botanical Gardens. I have a friend from Turku, and we usually have these somewhat infantile matches where we berate each other’s home towns (mine is Helsinki), but when it comes to botanical gardens I have to say that they have us beat. The Botanical Gardens in Helsinki (in Kaisaniemi and Kumpula aren’t that special). Tähän aikaan vuodesta alppiruusut kukkivat parhaimmillaan ja onnistuin lähtemään Rhodokerhon kesäretkelle Turkuun ja Ruissalon kasvitieteelliseen puutarhaan. Yksi hyvistä kavereistani on Turusta kotoisin ja meillä on…