2026/26 - My Frustrating Frog Pond

 A garden should have water, and especially a garden presenting itself as a naturalistic one, allotment or not. So one of the first things I did when I took over a potato field 4 years ago was to dig a frog pond.

The very first beginning

   The digging was hard, as I had broken my upper arm not long before, and I found lots of forgotten rotten potatoes.

   But I adore a good pond, so I dug on, and kept my vision as a motivator: a tranquil pond with a waterlily, dragonflies and happy frogs.

   I put in a liner, filled the pond from my water butt, bought a waterlily and some aerators, and waited for the frogs to arrive.

   Three years, according to Charlie Dimmock, Queen of Water Features, before a pond is really established.

It took a couple of months, full of anticipation, would the frogs arrive? Nope, but a ferocious SW gale did, and blew the greenhouse of my neighbour to smithereens, depositing her shards of glass all over my garden and into my pond. It sprung a leak. From then on, my dream of a lovely, natural frog pond turned into endlessly putting enough water in it for my waterlily to survive.

The effort paid off, not in frogs, who never deemed the pond worthy, but in toads and salamanders. So I kept it up, the filling it up. Until last year, when the summer was so hot, that I gave up. My 1000 l. water butt was empty, and I needed the other butt to water my plants. I decided to let nature take over...no more pond.

But. But. But. Over the months I really started to miss that icky bit of water to stare into! So I thought right. I'll give it one more go!

By the end of April it was no more than an overgrown, grassy, weedy dip in the soil! It took hours and hours to get that grass out.

Hours! 

Empty! And...oh, my giddy aunt! After a rainstorm, there was water. Sure, it went down again, but to me this was a sign of hope. I immediately went and told Waterlily, who was hanging on for her dear life in a temporary bucket.

As I have a never used dog pool (Puck took one look at it and told me I could  go sit in it myself, which I have done a couple of times), I decided to put that in the middle, so that Waterlily has a proper 50 cm water depth, without (hopefully!) leaks.

And here it is. I plan to get some marginal plants for camouflage, so that it looks a little less...hm...weird?

But look at Waterlily! Utterly happy again, and so am I.

My neighbouring 'pond' was very tranquil this morning, after a massive thunderstorm in the night. Puck stood beside me, trembling, if she wasn't pacing the room for hours, trembling. Thunderstorms scare her. So this morning, at 5.30, I gave her the opportunity to choose her own walkies, to cheer her up, and she wanted to go to the ferry to look at the waterfowl.

And yes I know she's a dog, and I humanise her, but she's been my faithful companion since Feb.2019 and now she's really getting old...So I indulge her. Even when she's prevented me from sleeping for practically three quarters of the night. I don't know her age, she could be as old as twelve. She'll be my last rescued dog, as I am getting old too.

Right. Look up my website at Renée Grashoff Schrijft when you feel like it, spread the word about this blog to dog lovers and plant geeks, and have a lovely week, wherever you are.

Renée Grashoff 

2026/25Extra - Gardens of historical Brielle

 A feature of the gardens of my historical hometown is that most gardens are either walled gardens, or that they are completely enclosed by houses. Hence you don't get to see a lot of them, unless you are invited in. And on Sunday June 14th, we were.

This walled garden at the Raas is one of the oldest surviving in Brielle. The houses date from the early 17th century. The large Catharijne church dates from the 15th century (1417) but was never finished because they ran out of money in 1482. One of the naves and the spire were never built. It was supposed to become the largest church of the country...don't say our citizens weren't ambitious!

As a rose lover, I particularly like that rose scrambling up the tree in the same garden.

There are some modern houses within the ramparts, and this garden is situated in Van Sleenstraat, overlooking the ramparts. A potter/painter couple have created a charming garden here.

This is another corner of the same garden. Gorgeous rose!

Not every garden was to my liking (plastic lawn? No thanks!); but this lovely rose caught my eye in an otherwise utterly uninspiring garden.

Being hemmed in by houses make a lot of the gardens shadow gardens. This one had Feverfew in one of the only sunny spots.

Another corner of the same shadow garden.

The sunny corner of yet another shady garden; this one was surrounded by wooden fencing.

This looks like a jungle, but there were narrow paths from the house.

This is in the same garden, but looking towards the other side.

A good example of the many centuries old walls surrounding the gardens.

Some of the gardens were amazingly large, for a town garden. When you walk the narrow 15th century streets of Brielle, you have no idea that behind the houses are large gardens. And it is wonderful to see that those gardens are loved, and maintained as a garden, whilst there is a huge lack of parking space in Brielle. Sure, some get tarmaced, but many fortunately are not.

Another thing that struck my eye, is that many of the 10 gardens I had the time to visit had the same plants in them. That tells me that those plants are trusted to do well in our soil. The tendency to plant exotics has passed by Brielle so far, all those plants I saw were perhaps not proper natives (roses, Acanthus et such do come from warmer parts of Europe), but they are known to do well here. Especially when they are protected from that ever blowing sea wind over here. But not a palm tree, or citrus tree or huge aloe in sight.

I hope you've enjoyed a little peek at the gardens. Do share my blog address if you have.

Have a good week, wherever you are.

Renée Grashoff 

2026/25 - El Niño? El Mwah over here!

 After the sudden arrival of Summer during May, with the first heatwave of the year, right now we are having very unstable, too cold weather for this season. I have not been out of my sweaters for a fortnight, and that bloody wind! It tears along my balcony and makes my plants hang on for dear life.

By the way, this week I have an extra blog for you, about the Open Garden Day of historical Brielle. Enjoy it at 2006/25Extra.

Eventhough we've had a lot of rain, I had to water my balcony garden, as that wind had dried out my plants.

This morning the dark grey clouds chased the fluffy white ones so speedily I had to put on my coat just as fast as I had taken it off! But the Lathyrus, tied to the obelisk faithfully by yours truly, is hanging on and producing masses of flowers.

My Victoria rose is looking good, don't you think? She has been moping for years, but finally has started to accept her corner.

My Schneewitchen and Masquerade unfortunately, both having bloomed very well, suddenly developed black spot. I cut them back hard this morning...we'll see if it works.

My lovely garden centre is in the habit of giving away free pot roses, nameless, but I happily receive them and plant them in my gardens. Isn't this one gorgeous? By the looks of it, it is a climber! So I hastily provided it with a frame. It is a bit dwarfed by the Gaura in front of it, but I am sure it will rise above it😊

Another free rose on the right. They come in 3" pots, so repotting is always the first thing I do. In Autumn I will give it a permanent place in one of the large planters, they are full up now. 

Luckily that Clematis and Pandorea are in the lee of the balcony!

The Schneewitchen on the balcony has been blooming for a month now, and is turning from pure white to blush pink in places. This has been whipped by the wind, but it has done her best to hang on.

My veg in the greenhouse is okay. I harvested three large cucumbers, some broccoli, and the tomatoes have some green ones in between all those leaves. I finally pulled out Monster, as it had spent itself. I saved some seed though, as I thought it deserved a place in Hunky Dory next year.

And will you look at that! HAPPY!!! My Cycas is looking good, but I will absolutely take it indoors come October! Monty Don can say a lot, but my baby will get a warm, comfy Winter!

I started out with some pale pink Cranesbill Geraniums 4 years ago, and by now I have three different kinds of pink and for the first time a pure white one. This photo makes it look pinkish, but believe me, it is white. All self-seeded! This is so much fun! I love plants to do their thing, although I did pull out some massive Thistles this morning, who had moved themselves from the neglected plot next door to spots that were rather awkward in my plot. It pained me, Thistles are great for pollinators, but they pricked everyone who walked past my greenhouse.

Back from the grey rain clouds to the fluffy white ones sailing past at great speed.

They promise us proper summery temperatures for the end of this week. Can't wait!

Look up my website at Renée Grashoff Schrijft and have a great week, wherever you are.

Renée Grashoff 

2026/24 - Intrigued by an Iris?

 May/June are the months my Irises show themselves. They are unassuming, hiding themselves in between the other plants, until suddenly...there they are! I love them, they are so gorgeous, one of the flashiest, most elegant flowers we have.

This is my tallest one, Iris germanica Grape Adventure. I planted three two years ago, and two of them carry flowers now, the third is still thinking about it.

 This border alongside my greenhouse is a mass of four kinds of scented daffodils in March/April, and then it turns into a mass of very sloppy leaves. I leave them on, because they need to get the goodness into the bulbs again, but oh my, they are messy. To guide your eye away from the mess, I planted the Iris and also Lilies and Hemerocalis.

This plant is around the corner, just coming into flower. I thought it was an Iris when I bought it (just spiky leaves at that stage), but it actually is a Sisyrinchium striatum. 

It is pretty though, don't you think?

Iris siberica Shirley Pope, next to the frog pond. They are very elegant, but looks deceive, they get the full brunt of the SouthWesterly winds we have here, but they are sturdy!

The standard Iris siberica which is used very often by florists. 

Yet another Iris germanica. You may suspect I only like the purple variety, but that's not true, I'd love another colour...but I tend to buy my plants in sales, and there you'll make do with what's on offer.

The bog standard Yellow Iris siberica that you'll find all over my town. It grows in the waterways and we call it Gele Lis. The pretty flowers only bloom for one day, but the plant makes up for it by producing loads at the same time.

So how do you make sure your Irises have a nice life in your garden? Well, they like sun, so situate them where they'll get the sun for 6 hrs each day. They do not mind heavy clay, but I made certain I watered them in the first year after planting. And the books say they like their rhizomes near the surface of the soil.  The yellow kind (above) want to be in or very near the water.

The white Iris Siberica in my garden.

Good luck with your Irises!

Look up my website at Renée Grashoff Schrijft for more blogs, and have a great weekend, wherever you are!

Renée Grashoff 

 

2026/23a - Extra photos last week of May '26.

 All photos are taken by myself and are my creative property.

We start in Hunky Dory:

Communal butterfly garden, Brielle

My balcony garden

To the right (black pot) my poor frozen Cycas, which I had almost given up...But! It is alive! And producing new fronds, six of them, and I am almost delirious with happiness about that. I love that plant, it has been my faithful companion for 8 years, until it simply got too large to be able to keep indoors. So I put it outside...my English go-to garden programme Gardeners World said I could. And it promptly froze in February. So next winter, it is going to live indoors again!!!

Right. I hope you've enjoyed this post. Follow this link Renée Grashoff Schrijft to my website when you'd like to read more about my books and me.