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 

 

2026/22 - Celebrating my end of May Garden

 Doesn't time just fly by? Here we are, rapidly approaching June already... Hunky Dory and my balcony garden are glowing with flowers.

This Wallflower, name unknown as it was a gift from a friend's garden, is almost at the end of her flowering season, but she looks great. The yellow ones on my balcony are past it though, and as they have been in their planter for three years, and have turned very woody, I will take them out, thanking them for their efforts.

The Camassia leichtlinii is valiantly trying to ignore the lack of rain...she likes her soil to be a lot more moist than I can offer her. She is an experiment: will Camassia survive my heavy, dry clay? She does, so next Autumn I will plant some more. We have finally got us some rain, although most of it passes by my delta and falls on the East of the country.

Now here is a puzzle for you: when I planted Hunky Dory I planted a Papaver Orientale in the hot bed. It grew and bloomed that first year, then vanished. But! It has emerged at the entrance to my greenhouse, four plants no less, and they are doing great. How??? It is a mystery to me.

One of my favourites for my garden: the Geranium macrorrhizum. It likes its corner near the hole which used to be my frog pond, next to the woodpile.

Said hole...also a very sad hole. Not enough rain, so no water left whatsoever! I will see what survives in there now. On the right the Erigeron is still doing its thing, and some of the aquatic plants are hanging on so far. But the grasses, always opportunistic thugs, are rapidly colonizing the hole.

Talking about colonizing: to my great joy I have many Digitalis this year, who have spread themselves around the garden. Like the giant Poppy they have planted themselves around the entrance to the greenhouse, but they are in all the beds as well. They are so majestic, and tough as old boots. So I tell them "go forth and multiply!" Lucky for me, they are very obedient.

One of my neighbours still never visits his plot...and this is one of the wild plants that have settled there. Very pretty, some type of Clover. I shamelessly pick it for my flower arrangements at home (he never ever weeds, so...).

The greenhouse

My 'lettuce in the old rain gutter' experiment works! I am chuffed. At first they were struggling because of the sun (no chalk on the roof panels), so I rigged a sunscreen for that part of the greenhouse. And it works a treat! 

The Rettich in the black pot should almost be edible by now, so I'll dig one up very carefully soon, to see how far along it is. And the Paksoi in the raised bed is ready to be eaten. In fact, they are all ready...that's the drawback of using plugs...all is ready at the same time. I will have to be clever with them...

The Cucumbers and Tomatoes are doing fine as well. I have planted my Calendula seedlings in front (the photo does not show them).

After my greenhouse being a total disaster resembling a weedy patch of wasteland (because of this pesky plant!) for two years because of this inerasable weed that came up a.s.a. I had removed it, I am very glad I decided to use the French bark on top of weed depressant cloth  and built me some raised beds. I'll build some more now that I see it works.

The Helleborus enjoying the rain.

I'll leave you with a few photos of my neighbourhood. This is along our daily walk.

Puck likes to sniff out the blue heron that sits here often to fish.

Another part of our daily walk. The grasses come up to my hips right now. This morning we met a hare, a green woodpecker, a gaggle of Canadian geese, a bored black cat, a roe buck, and saw evidence of the beavers that live here as well. Not bad, eh? For a built up industrial area just below the smoke of Rotterdam.

See those clouds? More rain to arrive. I love it when the Hawthorns bloom. We have quite a few along the ramparts and ravelins. The mill is a wooden standard corn mill, still in use.

Right. I hope you've enjoyed this week's blog. I will include an extra one of extra photography, just for fun. Pass on the word if you did. And if you would like to read more, follow the link to my website at Renée Grashoff Schrijft

Have a good week, wherever you are!

Renée Grashoff 

2026/14 - Spring blossoms and early flowers.

 I know, I know, it happens every year...But to me it never gets old! When I walk my dog I enjoy the sight of all the trees and shrubs that have sprung into Spring with abandon.

The tiny white flowers of the Amelanchier, which we call krentenboom, are always the first. The cherries have the reputation for being wonderful, but I think this blossom is just as fine.

By the way, not a blossom tree at all, but look at this Willow. It has put on its spring finery as well. The wild mallards that use this 'sloot' like to fly up to the top of this particular tree, as it has a nice bowl-shaped top, which seems to be custom made for ducks. They made their nest there some years ago.

The Rapeseed under this bank of blossoms is just about to burst into flower as well. And when the Amelanchier has turned green, the Hawthornes which also live on this bank, burst into flower alongside the Cow Parsley. This is my favourite bank near my house, by far!

In Hunky Dory there is slowly some colour creeping in...I have two Broom bushes, the ordinary yellow one, which does very well, and a much more temperamental orange kind. Last year it hardly showed any colour, such a disappointment. But look at the buds on it now! It is very promising, and I will make sure to show you it in all its glory soon.

Next to the frog pond I have planted some Grape Hyacinths I had in pots indoors. They seem happy and are slowly spreading themselves out along the path.

The Wallflowers were some of the very first plants I planted in my garden 4 years ago. I planted 3 together next to my (tiny!) 'mound', and two have given up by now. But this one is still going strong. What I adore about this one is the variation in the colour, not one flower is the same.

Totally different from the one on my balcony, which is very uniform. It was sold to me as Erysimum yellow, well...It is very large, and has taken over the entire trellis planter; but the Clematis that is also in there takes no heed and simply climbs up from behind it.

Talking about the balcony, this Brunnera macr 'White Zebra' is showing her pretty leaves in between the Maroccan Mint. I thought I had lost it to the invasive Mint, but no, thankfully here it is.

And remember this plant? And me moaning about it, how I had lost all the seedlings of it three years in a row? It seems my Erigeron Profusion (Mexcian Fleabane) has taken a shine to this pot, for here it is, her third year in there and wow, covered in new flowers. Mind you, I made the soil in there extra gritty by mixing in sand, and then covered the base of the plant with 3" granite rocks that I stole from the boring ground cover next to my apartment. It seems to have done the trick.

The huge Grape Hyacinths never cease to amaze me. They are a bit later than their ordinary cousins, but when they do finally show colour, they look great, and they last for ages too.

I wouldn't mind this one in Hunky Dory, but my green gut tells me it will not appreciate the heavy clay and icy winds there. 

Despite near freezing temperatures and a storm, the plants I brazenly put much too early in the railing planters are doing fine. All my Pelargoniums have given up the ghost, so I had to get new plants. Oh well, I like a change from time to time. Now I simply hope my yellow Grape, which is against one of the trellis, has survived. The climbing rose Schneewitchen (the other trellis) is looking good, but the Grape looks...dead, frankly. I'll leave it for a bit though. After all it is early days yet.

Okay. Have a good weekend, take a look at my website Renée Grashoff Schrijft or subscribe to my newsletter by leaving me a message. 

Take care,

Renée Grashoff 

2026/12 - Misty March Mornings

 Here in the Dutch Delta we are used to moisture: rain, and fog. Especially in March misty mornings are no exception. You know the ones I mean, where you get wet eventhough it does not rain. In fact you sometimes get wetter from mist than from rain...honestly.

My daffodils are in full splendour, mist or no mist. But the rest of nature always goes very quiet. There is no wind, and even the moorhens are less noisy than usual. I took a quick peek to see if they have started their nestbuilding yet, and yes, they were busy dragging reeds and small branches to their favoured spots. The graceful swans, who also use the Veste to build their nests, were ignoring them. They think the feisty moorhens beneath them.

When I took this photo, I noticed some yob had dumped his beer cans in my garden. I mean to remove them next time I visit Hunky Dory. Why do people feel they can do things like that? As an author I am forever and endlessly fascinated by human behaviour, but that doesn't mean I like my garden being treated so carelessly!

 My roses are sprouting fresh leaves, this one is the Schneewitchen, a pure white climber. I like it so much, I have bought one for my balcony as well. 

The Helleborus, being very pretty next to the frog pond. I had promised it some friends, but did not see any in the nursery yet.

The Euphorbia is showing her lime green flowers next to the Artichokes. I had meant to divide this clump, as it is getting rather large, but the soil being cement-like until mid-november,  I did not get round to it. I'll have to see if I can still do it now.

For the last couple of days I have had a nasty cold...not bad enough for me to take to my bed, but going to Hunky Dory in the freezing wind was a bridge too far. So you will have to make do with what is currently showing colour on my balcony.

These grape hyacinths are into their 6th year now. Very hardy little bulbs.

And these huge grape hyacinths keep coming up faithfully as well. They start as rather alien looking things, but they straighten out, and last for ages.

This plant takes everything this winter has thrown at her into her stride! It is great for cut flowers as well, if you don't mind the wonky stems. I mistakenly told you it is Alsem (or absinthe), but it is actually an Anthemis maritima. Whatever the name, it is lovely this early in the year.

In the green pot in the background is my lettuce. I buy this at the supermarket (no lettuce yet in my greenhouse, but working on it!), with a plug of soil attached. I then eat the lettuce and plant the plug, and eh presto, a new lettuce grows. Great value for money!

This morning at 06.15. Well yes, head cold or not, my Puck needs to be walked! I can't tell how glad I am about it getting light in the early mornings!!

Right. Have a great weekend, wherever you are, and do visit my website at Renée Grashoff Schrijft or subscribe to my newsletter by leaving me your e-mail address.

Renée Grashoff