A White Surpise in my village of Leufstabruk

This morning when I woke up I had a feeling that something was different with the light, it was very bright!

And wow, the whole landscape was covered in white beautiful snow.

I know, it's February and it should be snow, but after the last weeks of no snow and spring weather it was a surprise.

I know it will not last for long, it will be warmer than usual in a couple of days, so it was just to quickly down a cup of coffee, put on warm clothing and get out there with my camera!

Enjoy, I did :D

My future Woodland/Lund in the end of my garden

My Barn, Woodland and the Perennial bed in the front

 Luckily I covered the New Dawn Rose properly before

 My beautiful barn

My stream and footbridge

My house and entrance to my property

My village Leufstabruk / Lövstabruk looks like a winter wonderland!

The South gate to the village

The Manor House

The Brewery: Leufstabruk Bryggeri

The South gate to the Manor house

The Greenhouse: Lövstabruks Trädgårdmästeri

The Orangerie

 The Archive of Natural History

The Church with the famous Baroque Cahman Organ from 1728

Hope You enjoyed my walk as much as I did, Per!

Back in My Garden for the Spring

Dear Friends, I'm back home in Sweden and my garden in the region of Uppland!

After 3 months working in the sun I was excited to see how far the spring had come in my garden :)

There is still snow around even if it's disappear quickly in warmish degrees and rain. Could be deceiving though, it's actually a month early, at least!

My Street is still having some snow, but I feel the excitement over the spring seeing green patches here and there

The entrance to my house are snowfree more or less

 My stream are open and it will be exciting to see how high the water will go in the spring since I plan to plant  some Lillies along the edge and don't want to do it too far down

The "New Dawn" Rose is too early and need some more covering, also to be protected from the coming strong "Spring sun"

Also the "Ilse Krohn" Rose need more protection

Here is the "Barn" looking towards the upcoming Shadow Garden & Kitchen Garden, in front is the new Perennial flower bed I made in the late fall

My Perennial flower bed is full of Spring bulbs, some of them eager to come up

 In the Shadow flower bed under my kitchen window The Japanese Mahonia Fern never lost it's green under the snow, fascinating

In my Kitchen garden the Garlic from Gourmetgarage surprised me, probaly will need covering as well

It's now easier to see and plan my Shadow Garden when the entrance isn't covered with Nettles

The Shadow Garden is a long haul project that will take years, but it's good to see where the water comes in the spring, so I can see where the different plants could go.

Seeing this, I also realize where the Mosqitos will thrive :(

My view from the kitchen window (where the beautiful Orchid I got as a moving in gift from my parents survived 3 months without water ;D )

Up in the Guest room, now serving as a overwintering room for my Geraniums, Fuschias, Olive tree, Walnut tree & more, getting bright light from the skylights towards north and a temperature of +8-10C

Today all the stored mail came from the post office, I ripped up the Garden Magazine and brewed fresh coffee for my favorite moment: FIKA

On the way home to Sweden did I pass through Amsterdam Airport and took the oportunity to stock up on bulbs and seeds :D

The "White Elegance" selection contained: Dahlia Playa Blanca, Liatris floristan Alba, Freesia Single White, Anemone Bride & Gladiolus White Prosperity

The Blue "Mix&Match" Collection have: Dahlia Blue Boy, Ranunculus White, Gladiolus Blue Frost & Anemone Coronaria Mr Fokker (haha)

I also found seeds for a favorite, the Architectural Eryngium "Miss Willmotts Ghost.

An exciting time is coming up, and I'm so glad to live in a area where the spring is very long and fun :D

Enjoy, I do!

Friends & Aliens in the Garden

Today it has been a wet and drizzly autumn day in the garden, nothing that can stop me :D

In the village of Lövstabruk I've met a garden friend, Evy! She's from Stockholm and have together with her man created a fantastic garden here.

She have generously given me some plants today, and I could not wait to put them down in the garden!
Thank You Evy :D

Evy gave me Brush Carnations (Borstnejlikor) & Columbines (Aklejor) that I will put down in the Perennial flower bed.

The Brush Carnations (Borstnejlikor) I divided in two parts

There was a lot of the Columbines (Aklejor) so I divided them in many parts and spread them out between the other plants

ALIENS???

They look like something of the movie "Alien", but are something of the most popular thing in Swedish gardens, and definately one of my absolute favorites:

RHUBARBS!

I got these two roots from Evy and they will be the start of my "Kitchen" garden :D

I plan to have my "Kitchen" garden here to the left with plenty of sun (not today though) where it probably have been vegetable patches before.

Patch digged for the Rhubarb roots, again in the size of a Pallet Collar (Pallkrage) in case I will add them next summer.

The roots are in the ground!

What You see in the background is where I plan to have a kind of Shaddow garden (Lund) with a wet area where there is naturally wet now.

Ending todays Blog with photos from the beautiful stream that look even better in wet weather!

Have a great day/evening, Per

Perennial Flowerbed & Luck in Auction

Digged, prepared and planted a 7 meter long Perennial flowerbed in the more formal part of my garden. 

My goal is that it will bloom all season, attract Butterflies & Bees and have a lot of bulbs of springflowers.

The flowerbed are visible from my kitchen window and will have sun more or less all day.

The back of my house have the entrance and the kitchen window, to the right is the "barn", with the hedge making a kind of courtyard with a seating area and there I will have a more formal garden

Here along the logs that separate the lawn from the gravel will I place the Perenneial flower bed

I decided to make the measurements after pallet collars, and it would be place for 6 of them, that makes more than 7 meters

A Coffeebreak or as we say in Swedish: Fika

 The soil is AMAZING, really dark and full of Earthworms

Decided against the Pallet Collars (Pallkragar) and digged the whole way to the logs!

 The first Perennial plants are down, doesn't look much, but they are mostly new plants bought in Autumn sales for 50% off:

My favorite Rose Louis Bugnet furthest away, thereafter; Steppe Salvia (Stäppsalvia), Smartweed (Pilört), Echinacea Purpurea (Rudbeckia), Anemone September Charm (Höstanemon), Salvia Sensation Rosde, White Astillbe, Echinacea Alba (Rudbeckia Alba) & Peony Edulis Superba (Luktpion),.

And off course spring bulbs, the symbolic flower of our county is Fritillaria Melegris (Kungsängslilja) and a lot of "Wild" Tulips (Vildtulpaner); Tarda, Little Beauty, Little Princess & Little Wonder

 Anemone September Charm (Höstanemon) & Echinacea Purpurea (Rudbeckia)

 White Astillbe

My Village Lövstabruk are famous for the Auctions that have been going on every summer since I was a kid, I was lucky there was a auction the other day.

 I do not need stuff, but I'm always looking for the Swedish stonewear pots from "Höganäs", originally used to store food like Lingonberry Jam. They are heavy, sturdy and perfect for larger Geraniums, Fuchsias and large plants that You don't want to fall over. I usually put Leca in the bottom, then a plastic container with the flower, in that way You have the support, but also a water reserv.

I was lucky, there was ONE and it's a large one, 12 litre!

 I got it for for 100Skr approx usd$15 :D

Next year I will put my small Walnut tree in it! I got the tree at Hellekis Herrgård last year and up here it's too cold for them so I have to take it in every year!

Thats all for now, tune in again next time, Take Care, Per!