Six on Saturday: market sights, Delft

Tags

canals, Delft, flower market, hollyhocks, six on saturday, the Netherlands

Greetings from the Netherlands. This morning we took a stroll around the town and these are my favourite six to share with you and The Propagator

1. The canals are looking pretty with water lilies 

There are hollyhocks growing on the path sides .

2. Famous for the blue and white porcelain or Delftware.

3. It was market day and the flowers sellers had armfuls of peonies for €6

4. There were delightful mixed bunches ready to take away. Pastel shades

5 fabulous mop head hydrangeas

Only €3 for 3 stems

6. My favourites were the flowers in strong jewel colours.

Colours as vibrant as this selection of candles

I hope you have had a wonderful Saturday wherever you are. D.

Six on Saturday: Day tripper

Tags

avenues of trees, Clerodendron trichotomum, Edwin Lutyens, Exotic gardens, Garden Visits, Ginger lily, Great Dixter, October, six on saturday, the Netherlands, the private garden of Piet Oudolf, The Salutation Garden Sandwich Kent

I have been lucky enough to take time out to visit some wonderful gardens in the last few weeks.  I rather like gardens in early Autumn as the light levels are lower and plants look wonderfully beautiful.  My six on Saturday are therefore my favourite sightings from those visits.

1. the Salutation garden in Sandwich Kent.  A wonderful garden set out by the one and only Edwin Lutyens which suffered years of neglect but thankfully is now {since 2006} under the superb control of Head Gardener, Steve Edney.  The place is a feast for the eyes with collections of exotics in a quintessential English garden.

2. In contrast to the exotics is a more traditional English look thanks to avenues of trees and Box columns in The Salutation Garden.

 

3. Great Dixter in Northiam East Sussex. A sublime house (Grade 1 listed)  and garden built by Edwin Lutyens.  Formerly home to Christopher Lloyd it is now held in Trust under the incredible stewardship of Head Gardener Fergus Garrett.  Famous for so many reasons, I absolutely love this garden.  This year I loved the juxtaposition of succulents and cacti planted amidst the Erigeron on the historic stone steps.

The Exotic garden was jungle like this year.

4. Just a couple of examples of the striking use of colour at Great Dixter.

 

5. Piet Oudolf at Hummelo The Netherlands.  The private garden of Piet and Anja Oudolf is open for the final year until 27 October 2018.  Not wanting to miss the opportunity to see this for myself I made the trip to Holland this month.  It did not disappoint.  The flat, open, rural setting of the garden has been secured and enclosed by tall walls of hedging.  Within the space, vast plantings of those perennials which Oudolf has almost single handedly made familiar to us all.  Stunningly beautiful.

 

 

6. Some wonderful trees in the garden at Hummelo provided scent thanks to the exquisite tree Claredondron trichotomum a tree that I had not seen or even heard of before.  That is why it is so good to visit other gardens, to learn and be inspired and of course to have a jolly good day out!

So for today I have shared three wonderful gardens with you and offered more than six images but hey I am feeling full of ideas and want to show you just a snippet of what I saw.  I am joining the Propogator with this entitled Six on Saturday. Enjoy.

 

Silent Sunday: flower shopping, Dutch style

Tags

allium sphaerocephalon. Symphoricarpos, bike, Dahlias, Delft, flower market, September, Silent Sunday, snowberry, the Netherlands, two wheels are better than four

Friday flowers: welcome to Delft

Tags

Delft, dianthus, flowers and wine, the best combination, the Netherlands

In a Vase on Monday: tulip mania

Tags

garden visit, Holland, in a vase on Monday, Keukenhof, the Netherlands, tulip Angelique, tulip Antraciet, Tulip Ballerina, tulip Brown Sugar, tulip La Belle Epoque, tulip Spring green, tulips

I fear I am having my own tulip mania thanks to my trip to Keukenhof last week.

It was my first visit and I was completely blown away by the beauty of the bulbs. The weather was warm which let’s face it, always helps.

Against a blue sky, the bulbs were beneath trees in full blossom which created a perfect haze of pink or in this case white. The warm air carried the heady scent of hyacinths which were planted in thousands.

I think I was expecting regimented rows of bulbs in blocks or bands of colour.

This was the case in some places but elsewhere the bulbs were planted in glorious colour combinations mixed with muscari or hyacinth or anemones.

Keukenhof plants about 7 million bulbs every year, admired by some 1.5million visitors, over the eight weeks that it is open. Mind blowing figures. Certainly it is a busy place to visit but its 32 hectare site copes well.

The bulbs are planted in nets as the soil is heavy clay and these are all lifted at the end of the show.

The lifted bulbs are sorted, the larger ones are kept for another year, the rest are disposed of. Mature trees cast shade once in leaf and the grass is reseeded each year for the show. The work that goes into this show is remarkable.

So this brings me to my vase. Tulips, a handful of tulips. They are pretty good in my garden this year.

I picked a selection to take to a friend.

Tulip Spring Green, Tulip Angelique, Tulip Ballerina, Tulip a La Belle Epoque, Tulip Brown Sugar, Tulip Antraciet

Joining Cathy with in a Vase on Monday. Should you like to join in add a link back to cathy’s blog and join in this popular Monday meme.

Have a great week. D.