A long Spring weekend & changes to Summertime

This weekend have been fantastic, a first real Spring weekend with a lot of sun and generous temperatures, topped with changes to Summertime (the sun now goes up at 6:14 and down at 19:30 here), all good!

I love when I'm in the garden all day long, working in the sun and fresh air, totally forget about time and food, and a nice feeling of satisfied exhaustion in the evening!

Since I already Linseed oiled the Pallet collars for the Veggie patches, it was just to start to dig.

The first box where already down, with the Red Garlic I planted in the fall! 

To the left Black Currant and Rhubarbs!

 Each square meter of soil had about a bucket or more of rocks, mostly Slag stone/Slaggsten since this village lived of Iron production since 16th century it's not a surprice.

The soil is incredible rich being ancient seafloor, hence I just don't cover the ground and put the collar on top of it which is the usual way. I wan't to use this soil, and check out the Earth worms/Daggmaskar, loads and loads of them, Fantastic :D 

The Saturday was just incredible!

 Done! I placed them with 80cm in between, exact the mesurement of a collar so IF I wan't I can put one more between them

The only breaks for "food" was besides the regular "Fika" breaks with coffe, a cold powerdrink (Broccoli, Spinache, Ginger, Chili, Cucumber & Apple), I usually just use what I have at home.

 The Black Currant "Polar Ribes" I planted in October coming strong

 The Ball Thistles I got from Ann-Cathrin (see Oct 2013) start to wake up with small fussy green leaves.

So, digging those Veggie pats, what to do with the removed lawn?

I added another 30cm to the front lawn (former graveled parking)

On the north side on my barn it's a naked big soil patch where the former renter had covered with Tarpaulin/Presenning to protect the ground from car parts.

Here it's shadow until 4 or 5ish in the afternoon, so yet another place good for shadow plants (which I LOVE).

 I decided to keep the area next to the wall free, plant a few Ferns against the rock wall & a climbing Hydrangea to cover the old electric cabinett (not in use). I also have my leaf composts here against the wooden wall.

 So I made a meter wide path with the lawn bits and kept the larger part open for a shadow garden plus a few trees and bushes.

The water falling freely from the rooftiles and I put all the Slag stone where the water lands.

Maybe I will have to put a stone path there later, but that's the day!

It's not all hard work, it's also important to enjoy the small sensations popping up here and there in the garden :D

My favorite little Tulip Tarda/Flocktulpaner

And here something where I enjoyed the color and shape of the leaf

I also oiled some smaller Black Pallet Collars, here I placed 3 on eachother, two larger and one smaller, where I will plant a Climbing Hydrangea to cover the electric unused cabinetts and somewhat the kitchen/Veggie Compost.

In the lover collar will I plant something bushy and hanging.

I put the compost here nere to the house since it's a warm compost for year around use, good when I need to shovel the snow in the winter.

As some of You remember from October, I planted a Lilac here that I brought from our summer cottage, I took it away to place it somewhere else.

 Towards the south part of the barn did I put the collars a little bit larger and 3 storey high for full sun, but also to create some room feeling of the former laaaarge gravelled parking

Here on the south side it will be a nice corner in the sun for coffee breaks/Fika.

In the boxes will I have Tomatoes, Chili, Paprika and Herbs, very close to the house/kitchen

Many beautiful hours outside will be continued inside where I have branches of Japanese Cherry bought in Stockholm when I worked there earlier in the week!

Hope Your Spring is as beautiful, Per!

Cherry Blossoms in Stockholm and Ramson butter at home, the spring is here, again!

This week I was working with Ebba Brahe Jewellery in Stockhom, hence a few days break from the Blog!

But that doesn't mean my life was flowerless. 

Just in time for the start of the amazing Cherry Blossom season in Kungsträdgården in Stockholm, it always blow me away. The four long lines of Cherry trees forming two flowering tunnels when in full bloom. It has just started so the sky is still visible through the branches!

Enjoy, I always do!

Also while working with the Ebba Brahe Jewellery Event at Hotel Diplomat in Stockholm did we have amazing flowers, these arranged by Charlotte Ramel from Ebba Brahe.

Here Peonies, Anemones and other stunning flowers

In the lobby of Hotel Diplomat, more beautiful Cherry Blossoms :D

Well home in Leufstabruk did i go to the English Park in the village and picked Ramson/Ramslök for the weekend

Since I have done Pesto a few times of the Ramson did I decide to do butter this time, with REAL butter (no fakes or light products allowed in my home), Sea salt & Chili!

Yummmm, on toasted bread (Lövstalimpa, made locally with local grown and milled flour)

Have a great weekend ALL, I will be in my garden since the weather seems to be great, Per!

Slow sunny sunday & Favorite Pelargoniums

Today it was sunny and bright, but still pretty cold, so in order to take care of my own cold I decided not to dig vegetable beds as planned, but prepare the pallet collars for them instead.

Sunny view over to the neighbor, they have the same little barn building as I, and two beautiful Larch trees/Lärkträd that hasn't got their needles yet.

At my one and only vegetable bed, so far, have the Red Garlic Rossi di Sulmona survived 3 surprise snowstorms so far this spring

On the top floor in my little barn did I prepare 4 more pallet collars with Cold pressed Linseed oil for the coming vegetable beds

Inside my house, up in the flower room with skylights, does it grow rapidly of seeds, bulbs, cuttings and others, such a pleasure to check in there every day. I still keeping the heat pretty low up there.

On the photo under supervision of my Chilean Tomte; Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, Hollyhocks, Ornäs Birches, Maple, Peones,.......

Can not help experiment with Bonsais, a remain from compact living with a balcony.

These are Maples, the "larger" one from the Lilac hedge at our cottage and the new small ones from Maple seeds I found around the garden a couple of weeks ago.

I have a few favorites among my many Pelargoniums

This is a "Pelargonium Carnosium"

When it comes to my favorites, I also make sure they get special pots that fits their peronality, to this one I got a cool black pot with spikes around the adge from Turbin Konsthantverk in Wij Gardens Ockelbo

Well I also got the Pelargonium from very special people a few years ago, the Pelargonuim experts Margareta & Mats Asplund at Pelargonfönstret in Örbyhus, very close to here. Love them and their personalities :D

My other favorite is this Suckulent "Pelargonium Cotyledonis" from ERA gardens, I have two from them

The personal pot for this one I found here in the village Lövstabruk at Hantverkets Hus by Susanne Thurfjell, in nice matte black with the old "L", that in the old days where stamped on the Iron made here.

Since it was sunny, even if coolish, did I grab my camera and ventured out in our village (to get the pot above), found that the Snowdrops still going since a month!

Hope You all had a great Sunday!

Per!

Ilse Krohn in her new home & the Forrest floor filling up with beauty

When I moved in to my new home and garden in the late fall last year did I do some good deals at the garden centers closing down for the season.

I did fall in love with the climbing rose Ilse Krohn, even if Zone IV where I live could be a challenge. I decided to put her against the beautiful stonewall to the food cellar, south facing, there she would get warmth, also stored in the stones and be protected from the north winds.

I put her down in the soil temporarily last fall and today I put her in the final flower bed with wooden frame, open in the bottom with a deeper soilfilled hole under. Next to it I probably plant some Thyme, but not sure yet.

I took the opportunity to weed and clean out the whole flowerbed next to the food cellar wall.

When I moved in last fall was this part totally neglected and the rest a gravelled parking lot, the grass You see is moved here from other new flower beds (see October in my Blog) and the rocks found in the soil and put where the water comes from the roof tiles during rains.

I have a few pots with spring bulbs (Grape Hyacinths & Narcissus) around my entrance,......

..., but now I need those pots for other plants so I put all the bulbs in the new flowerbed where they would end up anyway. I will fill this bed with bulbs for next spring :D

This flowerbed, very visible from the entrance will be for the spring bulbs, but also for a lot of summer flowers that can be changed every year.

This is the flower combination for this year:

Sunflower "Ruby F1", Summer Rudbeckia "Cherry Brandy", Marigold "Bronzed Beauty" & Spice Tagethes "Tangerine Dream".

I think this combination will look great towards the stonewall.

I took a break in the gardening to go to the English park in the village to pick some Ramson/Ramslök for lunch.

The snow is gone in the park and all the Ramson makes the forrest floor greener by the day!

This small tiny flower and leaves of the Butterbur/Pestskråp will grow rapidly and tower over all the Ramson after they had their glory.

But for now the Ramson is the star, here with the village Manor House in the background

I took a little de-tour home in the fantastic spring weather to check out how far the forrest flowers has come!

Here the simply beautiful Coltsfoot/Tussilago-Hästhov

And the delicate Blue Anemone Hepatica/Blåsippa which cover larger areas of the forrest floor, pre-cedor to the as beautiful white version.

The Ramson/Ramslök was put in a Omelett made by local Eggs from Roslagen and Cheese made on the nearby Island of Åland!

Bon Apetite, Per!