The Garden in May

 

 

The weather has been strange: sunny, then cold, then strong winds, then torrential rains. The plants in the garden responded immediately to the sun, and vibrant flowers began to appear in various places. The primroses were the first to bloom. These easy-to-grow flowers always bloom first.

I'm pleased with the condition of the rhododendrons. My mature rhododendron bushes survived the winter well. I'm showing you the "Daughter of the North" variety, bred in Finland. Several young bushes overwintered poorly due to the constant temperature fluctuations between frosts and thaws.

 

 

 

 

A cascade of white flowers has formed in the front garden. The cherry tree is in full bloom, and beneath it the Spiraea cinerea Grefsheim is blooming with long white clusters. The apple tree, which produces small, sweet red apples, is also in full bloom.

 

 

The wood anemones turned out to be remarkably resilient. I didn't expect them to bloom in the spring. They have lovely, delicate blue flowers, and I hope I can keep them in the garden for the future.

 

 

 The Juniperus horizontalis 'Glauca' has begun to grow vigorously and is getting large and beautiful year after year. Three years ago, it started shedding its needles and turned brown, but now it's healthy.

 

 

Tulips and daffodils are blooming late, probably because of the cold nights. They'll open their buds soon.

 

In a week, I'll feed all the plants with a potassium-rich fertilizer. The garden requires constant care.

I wish you a wonderful summer!

 

 

P.S. Dear blogger friends, I always read your posts with pleasure and interest. I'm glad that people from different countries also read my posts. But! There may be a situation where I won't be able to access your blog because the internet will be completely down. I'm very upset about this, of course. As soon as the internet is back up, I'll definitely read your posts. Sorry. 

I Bought Dahlias At the Garden Center

A time has arrived when many gardeners visit garden centers to buy new plants. Garden centers are a place where you can exchange opinions and experiences, talk to interesting people, and finally choose and buy a plant. I really love going to the garden center.

 

 

I must say, I grow dahlias every year, but over the years they become smaller and less beautiful. They say this is a characteristic of dahlias, that the roots gradually lose their ability to produce large flowers.

Growing dahlias is not difficult, but storing them over winter until spring is more difficult. I've tried storing them in wax, dry peat, and moss. In the spring, I have no confidence that last year's dahlias survived, and I usually prefer to buy something new for the garden. 

I especially like pom-pom dahlias. They have such beautiful, dense blooms on long stems. I also like them cut, arranged in a vase. The round, dense flowers match well with delphiniums and cosmos. 

 

As a result of my visit to the garden center, I bought several pom-pon dahlia roots in different colors. I will grow them in a pot before planting in the garden in June.

 

Do you love dahlias and how do you store them before planting them in the garden? Perhaps you'd prefer to buy already blooming dahlias at a garden center?

 P.S. All photos of dahlias in this post were taken by me at the Munich Botanical Garden.

Spring Is Here

 

   

Spring has already taken over my garden. Daytime temperatures are +20°C, and nights are cooler, +6°C. The buds on the rose bushes have noticeably enlarged and turned red. It's wonderful to see the roses come alive after winter. They overwintered without any special cover.

 

Not only the bushes but also the moles have awakened. They're actively digging holes and ruining the lawn. It looks like I'll have to tidy up the lawn and fill in the holes with soil. Although there's no guarantee the moles won't dig holes elsewhere.

 

The tomato and pepper seedlings are slowly growing. I planted them late this spring. I hope they'll be strong when I plant them in the soil in the greenhouse.

 

 

 

The annual flower seedlings are doing well. They're developing quickly and already have leaves. I hope my porch will be beautifully decorated with flowers.

 

The bright blue stars of chionodoxa are scattered throughout the garden. They've replaced the crocuses, which are already fading.

 

White pushkinia and blue scilla are also not far behind the chionodoxa and say: Spring in the garden! 

 I love this time of year when new life begins in the garden.

Spring Comes To My Northern Garden

 No matter how much the body is in the city, it is always a little colder in the garden. The snow has already melted but the earth is warming up slowly.

During the day the temperature is usually +12C but at night it still drops to +3C. Of course, the grass is ahead of all the plants, in some places it is already green.

I am always pleased to see how rhododendrons come to life after winter. Their leaves straighten and the plants begin to grow. Flower buds also increase in size.

 

 Black currant bushes open their leaves. Soon the bushes will produce flower pods with small buds. Bees and bumblebees really love these early flowers on currants.

 

 By the way, bees are already collecting nectar from crocuses and  Leucojums (summer snowflake). This year, these small flowers did not survive the winter well and I will probably transplant them to another place in the fall.

 

 

My favorite huge climbing Flammentanz rose grows in the front garden. When it was smaller, I covered it for the winter. Over the years, It's become difficult for me to bend it down to the ground and cover it. This rose is very prickly. Now it's overwintering without shelter and it seems to me that this spring it looks good. 

 

I notice changes in the plants every time I visit the garden. Spring brings new and joyful things. I visit the garden often now because my vegetable seedlings are growing and I'll plant them in the greenhouse soon.

All the best, take care! 

 

 

Bonsai Art

 

The art of bonsai always evokes wonder and admiration for the work of gardeners. Attitudes toward it vary. Some love it, while others view the plants with pity, considering bonsai not art but rather a mockery of plant nature. Generally, bonsai trees are associated with harmony, inner peace, balance, and positivity. Many use them as living decorations in their interiors.

 

When I saw these plants grown in bonsai style at the RHS Wisley Botanical Gardens, I immediately began photographing them. I really liked their shape and foliage. Some were blooming, others were striking in their appearance.

Here are photos, you can see conifers and maples of various species. Despite their small size, they retain their characteristic features and beauty. I liked this red-leaf maple, its roots intertwined in a small, shallow pot.

  

Bonsai is the Japanese art of cultivating miniature trees in containers through precise pruning, wiring, and root restriction to mimic the appearance of full-sized, aged trees.  

Bonsai can be created from nearly any woody-stemmed tree that produces true branches and can be cultivated to remain small through pot confinement with crown and root pruning.

 

I was delighted with the blooming azalea. In the city, I tried several times to get it to bloom again, creating all the conditions I thought it needed :), but it never bloomed. Here, at the botanical garden, the azalea bloomed and grew well in a small pot.

 

Such plants, grown in shallow, small pots, can easily be brought indoors for enjoyment in the winter when other plants outside are not growing or blooming. I also wanted to grow bonsai, but I was deterred by the fact that it's cold in a garden greenhouse in winter, making it impossible to keep them there.

 

This plant—I don't know its name—also amazes with its roots, which intertwine just above the soil surface. The plant has enough soil to grow so beautifully.

 

What do you think of the art of bonsai? Have you seen these plants, and what impression did they make on you?

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich

 In my last post, I promised to continue my story about the park and observatory in Greenwich. You've already seen the park and rose garden. The park adjoins the observatory buildings. The observatory was built in 1675 by order of King Charles II. Since Greenwich Park was a royal estate, no new land was required. At that time, the king also established the position of Astronomer Royal, who was to act as the observatory's director.
The park beautifully complements the buildings; many trees, such as the larches, are slightly younger than the observatory itself. Parrots live in the canopies of the deciduous trees.

 

 

 

You can drive closer along the wide road and explore the museum complex. I photographed a view of the park, and the observatory's domes are visible in the distance.

 

 The Royal Observatory, Greenwich played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and because the Prime Meridian passed through it, it gave its name to Greenwich Mean Time, the precursor to today's Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The prime meridian runs directly from the door of the observatory building, and any visitor can stand in both the eastern and western hemispheres simultaneously.

 

The scientific work of the observatory was relocated elsewhere in stages in the first half of the 20th century, and the Greenwich site is now maintained almost exclusively as a museum. The original observatory housed the Astronomer Royal, his assistant and his family . 

 

 

By the later 18th century it incorporated additional responsibilities such as publishing The Nautical Almanac, advising government on technical matters, disseminating time, making meteorological and magnetic observations and undertaking astrophotography and spectroscopy. 

 

 

 

 

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