Impressions of Tusen Trädgårdar Open Gardens in Sweden

What an inspiring day to meet a lot of people who love gardening, taking care of plants, do know a lot about plants or have briljant ideas about design or just enjoy the colors or the place. It made our day!

We didn't know what to expect for this day. Nobody knows the place, maybe they have seen us working every day? We are not really in a busy garden area... But we found out some people visited the place because of garden interest, they are driving often this road, or family went to school in this building. So yes, we got visitors nicely spread all over the day, very Corona proof😊

Finlandsrosa, you should smell it, it's lovely

This place really has a history. It's an old building, a former school (Read more about living in an old school in Sweden), there are art sculpture, nice old plants in a beautiful area. I like to tell about it or to find out more. The concept with some history, some art sculptures and grandma's plants (mormors växter på svenska) feels as a natural connection to this place which people are interested in.

We were happy to meet a lot of nice people and the good weather stayed (at least nearly till the end). It gave a lot of spirit, ideas and energy to go further on this road...

Thanks 😄

Mormorsväxt Gullviva (Primula)

Tusen Trädgården Sjöbygget Skola Open Garden Time

Next week, it is open garden time all over Sweden. It's called Tusen Trädgårdar. We will join this event and open our garden at Stegaryd Sjöbygget Gamla Skola in Vittaryd. The school and the barn were build in 1875. A lot of people form farms in this neighborhood walked to this place to go to school. It was not always that close to their homes. In 1939 they closed the school 
 and the place was sold.

We have been told there was a lady living for a long time, she loved gardening too. The garden was always full of flowers. But later the garden was forgotten and overgrown by a lot of trees. The sculptures the old lady made are still there and sometimes I found old days plants, placed them in the nursery and they started growing again. Like grandma's plants.

We want it to be a nice garden again and started working. It still needs time to grow of course, its not ready yet. Last autumn we had even to make a new sewer, it didn't really didn't serve the garden. But we hope one day it will be a garden full of flowers again, even when it is a challenge sometimes. Just now there is a hare who specialy likes Campanulas, Salvia s and Plox. They are all eaten just now.

But anyway, we live in the woods and we like to share our work to any one who is interested. So it's time to open up our garden for the first time. You are very welcome on the 28th of June 😊

Grandma's Swedish Early Spring flowers

Early spring it starts in our garden with wild Crocus and some later (Mars/April) with "svenska sippor". That means vit sippa (Forest-Anemone) , blå sippa (Hepatica) och vårlök (Ornithogalum), as you can see above. I'm always very happy to find some Hepatica's in our garden. Because it was so grown over, you wouldn't believe they were still growing. I'm making a little more place for them now, I protect them against the strong spreading and killing Sevenleafs. But it is getting better and better, after some years.

Fritillaria Meleagris

Viola Odorata

Some of my favorites are Fritelaria Meleagris, (Kungsängsliljor in Swedish, Lapwingflower in english) the brown and the white one, I really like them. They are so beautiful and so vulnerable. And they actually are. I think we had a hair hiking around (we live in the Swedish woods) which really liked this ones too. I was lucky I discovered in time, so I could save the other ones from being eaten. But they will flower next year. They need to stand in an wet area, best is in the gras.

Spanish Hyacint

Myosotis - Don't forget me

The spring flowers start every year again, no matter what. It makes me very happy. Nature just going on. No matter what i do or think. I try to create within the nature. A little going by the flow, what is nature bringing me. What is possible here? Which ground, is it sandy or clay? How much light they need? What about moisture? And then try to combinatie with colors, flowering times, leaf sorts, structure... It is like making a painting. In the grandma's style with a special touch of me.

Soon the other Spring flower will come...