Sweet peas are nostalgic flowers and a cottage garden favourite. I am sure many of you have memories of your grandmother or mother growing sweet peas. The fragrance of these delicate blooms will bring you right back to the garden of your childhood. Continue reading Sweet pea show: exhibition at the farm
Author: Pauline@cloverhome.nl
Flower lover, aspiring gardener, blogger, amateur photographer.
What’s blooming in the garden: June 2017
One of my sons told me I should update my blog more often.
14 years old.
I told him he was right, of course. I didn’t want to ruin a good mother-son conversation.
But I could have told him I would have more time to blog if I didn’t have to help him learn his French words or Latin grammar. It’s that time of year again. The end of the school year and the end of year exams.
El Botànic: The Botanical Garden of Valencia
In my last blog post about planning a dahlia garden, I didn’t include any flower photos. Today’s post is filled with plants. Again, no flowers! I visited a botanical garden and thought I would share a few of the photographs I took. It’s not all about flowers, leaves have beauty too! The different shapes, the different shades of green, foliage comes in so many forms and colours. I love a greenhouse filled with lush, healthy plants. I have tried to capture the tranquil and serene atmosphere in the garden and hope you will feel inspired.
Continue reading El Botànic: The Botanical Garden of Valencia
Planning a dahlia garden part 2: design your plot
Hello there! I hope you are enjoying the light and the longer days of May. Here in Holland, we had a cold and dry start to spring. Not ideal growing conditions. It wasn’t all bad, though, the daffodils and tulips lasted a lot longer than normal. But now that the Ice Saints have gone, it is time to start hardening off your seedlings and plant out any potted up dahlias.
Continue reading Planning a dahlia garden part 2: design your plot
Simple Easter decoration: delicate egg vases
Happy Easter! I love decorating eggs for Easter and this year, I kept it really simple. These delicate egg vases are a sweet, easy and inexpensive Easter project. The pure white eggs combine beautifully with the delicate flowers and the fresh green leaves.
Continue reading Simple Easter decoration: delicate egg vases
Heavenly hellebores: building up a collection
Is it just me or is everyone obsessed with hellebores these days? Maybe it’s just like when you are pregnant, you see pregnant women everywhere. Anyway, hellebores are becoming more and more popular with floral designers and gardeners. And it’s no wonder: They are one of the few plants to bloom in winter. They are easy to grow, even for the beginner. Blooming from late winter to early spring, the flowers last a long time. Hellebores come in many different muted colours, with speckles or veins or picotee edges. There are hellebores with single and double flowers. You have so many to choose from, and they are beautiful.
Continue reading Heavenly hellebores: building up a collection
Book review: Cut Flower Garden by Erin Benzakein
It’s no secret I am a big fan of Erin Benzakein of Floret Flowers. I have been following Floret on Instagram for a while and I am constantly in awe of the beautiful images taken on her farm. Floret Farm grows hundreds of flower varieties and they all look amazing. The picture of their farm truck filled with dahlias is famous. It has been shared by thousands of flower lovers around the world. Pictures of Erin standing in a field of flowers at sunset, her arms full of the most beautiful, seasonal blooms, are my favourite. But even digging up dahlia tubers in the mud looks good on the Floret Farm.
Erin has always been incredibly generous with her knowledge through her blog. Now she shares her views on planting a cutting garden of your own in a brand new book called Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest & Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms.
Continue reading Book review: Cut Flower Garden by Erin Benzakein
Dried hydrangea heart for Valentine’s Day
Hello there! It’s February and almost Valentine’s day. Do you celebrate Valentine’s day or do you just skip it? To me, Valentine’s day is not a big deal, I won’t be disappointed when I don’t get diamonds or red roses. But it is the day I started my blog two years ago! I like to keep up the tradition and write a Valentine’s day blog post every year. This year, I kept it simple and created dried hydrangea hearts. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the post for a free printable hydrangea heart! Continue reading Dried hydrangea heart for Valentine’s Day
Photographing blue anemones
This year, I am looking forward to spring more than usual. I am not really a winter person. I do like to skate, though. Holland is so beautiful seen from the ice. And I do like snow. But what’s the use of this cold weather when the ice is too thin for skating and there is not enough snow for sledging? Let’s move on to spring, shall we? Continue reading Photographing blue anemones
Dazzling dahlias at the dahlia show garden
Hello there! How are you? I hope you are enjoying the beautiful autumn colours, or, if you are on the other side of the globe, enjoying spring. In this blog post, I will take you to the CNB dahlia show garden. In my post about planning a dahlia garden, I suggested a visit to a show garden for inspiration. I did, and today I am sharing my photographs. I hope they will inspire you too. But first I will give you on update on my garden chores. Planting bulbs, yeah!