2025 /43 - Autumn is in the air again

 The morning being lovely balmy and quiet, I took my secateurs and myself to Hunky Dory, to finish what I started yesterday - pruning the spent flowers, and the removal of all those pesky Solidago.

There's this 'thing' about Solidago: I like it for its cheerfulness, but only in the right spot. And that plant walks all over my garden, settles in all the wrong spots and makes itself at home. If I had got a Euro for every plant I pulled out over the last 4 years, I could afford a larger apartment. Or publish at least 10 more novels! So yes, I regret planting it.

Here is another wanderer. But in this case, it reminds me of J.R.R. Tolkien: "Not all that wander are lost." This Nasturtium can go walk-about to its hearts content! Every time I see it, it lifts my mood. It will go on until the first night frost, and then die overnight.

The allotments being deserted, I took a peek at the garden of my neighbour at the back of my plot, who has gardened there for more than 60 years. He is very much into veg, but we share many a conversation about my love of flowers, which he appreciates too, especially my Lilies. He planted these Courgettes, aren't they fun?

Me having managed to grow just one Cucumber this year, I was a bit sad to see his being abandoned a bit. I suspect he had that many that he can't eat them all.

I pruned my Elaeagnus ebbingei again. Now that I have done it twice, those bare branches are beginning to stand out, don't you think? Whilst I was doing it, my head was 'buzzed at' by many, many bees. They love the tiny cream flowers of this shrub, they do smell amazing, I must say. So far I have never been bitten, it is as if they recognise me as 'harmless'.

I do hope those hornets which are colonising my country from the south upwards pass by though! They sound quite tricksy.

The few showers we have had last week, have done this Artichoke a lot of good. Most rain has passed us by though...More is predicted for this afternoon, well...promises, promises.

Last year, my garden was a mass of these summer bulbs, Ixia. This extremely dry year, there are only a few, next to the frog pond.

But to my astonishment, the Cyrtomium falcatum not only survived that drought, it took it in its stride! Well, yay!

The Malus has so many apples, it is a miracle that the branches didn't break during that storm we had last week. Actually, I was near breaking point as well! Those 100 km/hr gusts around my balcony were driving me bonkers. I would not do well in hurricane country!

The trees on Brielle ramparts are turning now. It always makes me a bit melancholy. Winter in my part of the delta usually is a very wet, chilly, grey affair. I counter it by masses of bulbs.

The Asters, Michaelmas Daisies, are in full bloom now.

The pink ones are always a few weeks earlier than the white ones though.

The plan was that they would bloom together, hahaha. Best laid plans, eh?

Okay, I'll leave you with one of our national treasures, in autumn attire.

Do follow this blog when you like it, and if you are interested in my website, here is the link: Renée Grashoff Schrijft

The Dutch Delta is Willow country!

Bye bye,

Renée Grashoff 

2025/40 - Ups and downs of Hunky Dory

 We had another freaky hot day yesterday, 27°C☆. So this morning I rushed to Hunky Dory to see if my potplants had survived, and to water them. ☆ By now you will have sussed out I write my blog a week before publishing, right? So don't feel cheated: "what? That hot? It was not hot at all yesterday", that kind of thing, hahahaha.

I was there at 8 a.m., and the sky was cloudy, which gave an unearthly light to my Pampus grasses.

No filters used!

I love to be in the garden in the early morning. Just me and the birds.

So. What was my gardening week like? Well, a mix of 'yay' and 'damn it!'

Let's get the last one out of the way. For the last 3 years I have done my utmost to get climbers climbing the nook where my chair lives. There is no shade in my garden, so I try to create it by using climbers. And yet again the climbers (Lonicera this time round) have not survived the summer - 4th batch. So frustrating!!!

My friend, who lives behind this door in Brielle vesting, has a shady city garden, very green. She has exactly one patch of sunlight (which sits two chairs) during the day. Would you believe I sometimes envy her?

Still, she cannot grow Echinaecea, and I can. So I should not grumble. It has been a very good summer for Echinaecea. This falls into the 'yay' category.

And so do the three Gaura I have. They have been very pleasant. This white Gaura Butterfly had a slow start, but it caught up.

Another 'yay' for the roses this summer. They were in their element and have a bloomed three times already. Adore them!

This Dahlia is my neighbour's, but I enjoy it as it's very near to the border between our gardens. He has left the tubers in the soil last winter, and it doesn't matter by the looks of it.

Buddha has surfaced...all summer long it was practically hidden. I found the head beside the garbage container, and it now lives very serenely amongst the Carex in the hot border (which has stopped being hot by now, I still have not managed to get the balance right).

It always amazes me what people throw out. I keep hoping for a totem pole. Seriously!

Walking around taking photos this morning, I made a mental list of all the things I need to tackle in the coming months. Lots.

The major thing will be completing the greenhouse.

I emptied it last autumn, put down anti-root cloth with French bark on top and then left it,  to save up for the next stage.

That next stage will be constructing  at least two raised beds out of scaffolding boards. My knee artrosis doesn't allow me to sit on my knees any longer, as I was accustomed to. I also want to paint the windows with chalk paint, because all my tender seedlings scorched to death this year. Definitely a 'damn it!' occasion.

One of the 'issues' of my gardening is that I cannot throw a pot of money at it, as some people can. I have to save up, and control the budget very carefully. Not an issue at all, really, it only takes a little more time to do things. 

My one and only cucumber from the balcony this summer. ONE. I mean...watered and sang to. Rotten luck.

The grass is still in a very sorry state. The rain keeps missing our area. But this is the delta, so I'm confident we'll get some water soon. And then it will probably rain for months on end...

Okay. I'll leave you with a panorama of the Rotterdam skyline. Took it because of that sky, a very Dutch sky!

Have a good weekend, and keep an eye out for the 3rd Open Garden Scheme blog, which will be coming up soon, and for my Special about Rotterdam Veerhaven.

Website Renée Grashoff Schrijft 

Do follow me if you like this blog. Bye😚

Renée Grashoff 

 

2025/38 - And suddenly Autumn is in the air!

 The summer of 2025 has been both lovely and a tad frustrating for the gardener in me. Lovely because we enjoyed a lot of sunny, hot days, great for the soul. Frustrating because the rainy days we've had since February (!) can be counted on less than ten fingers. And it shows!

The trees are dropping their leaves already, and at an alarming rate. When Puck and I do our daily rounds, they crackle beneath our feet. The bushes are drying out, so blackberries shrivel up before they can be eaten. So I worry. I worry about our lovely summer Oaks which line our streets. I worry about the hedgehogs. And I get frustrated with the desert that my garden has become by now.

This was my Yellow Raspberry on Sept.1st 2024. This year I picked the last fruit (which was scant but lovely) on August 2nd. And its leaves are yellow by now, eventhough I have watered it. The Redcurrant next to it has shrivelled up and died. Oh my giddy aunt! Where will this end?

This was at our 06.00 morning walkies, and you can see the leaf litter under the trees. Still. Puck enjoyed her sniff very much, thank you, and afterwards I hurried to Hunky Dory to water the pots.

Where I was welcomed by this sight. There are worse ways to die than on a flower in the night, I suppose. Its mates were busily zooming around visiting the other Scabious, no one paid it the slightest bit of notice. Poor thing. But it lives on in this blogpost.

Well. Will you look at that?! Sowing the seed in the greenhouse (2 packets!) watering it, singing to it, mollycoddling it, then rescuing the survivors from scorching by putting them in a pot, where they could at least try to survive outside. Because I watered it daily. Sigh. And what do you get? One flower. More to come, at least three more...out of 2 packets. Sometimes this gardening lark is an exercise in humility.

But at least my Hydrangeas were grateful for the water. They are going over now, but have been valiantly looking good.

Is it all sad then? Of course not! This wonderful Papyrus is looking great despite its feet now standing in almost dried out slush. And so is its family, which is colonising the north side of the frog pond. I honestly think it is one of the most attractive reeds there is, especially now that it is getting its autumn colour.

The Malus and Sedum are turning as well. I think this is Sedum 'Herbstfreude', but I am not quite sure as I got it from a gardener who wanted to get rid of it and the others that live in my garden now.

Naturalistic planting

This photo is a good example of how my naturalistic planting in the 'hot bed' is evolving. The hottest plants (blood red Crocosmia) have now turned to seed, the Yellow Achillea, which scorched, is not giving up, but the Carex grass is definitely trying to take over the entire bed. Let me tell you, it looks easy, and when you get it just right it looks bloody amazing, but it is not easy at all! That Carex was a mistake for starters.

But I'll leave you with the first Aster novi-belgii that has come out. I have many kinds in the garden, and they, believe it or not, are looking absolutely fine so far. So I am looking forward to a colourful month of September at least! 

Despite the terrible drought this has been a good summer. I will pickle the last courgette today, eat the last of my Yellow zebra tomatoes and have a few purple Plums. I hope you'll have a good weekend!

Do follow this blog if you like what I write, and there is a new blogpost on my website about a couple of meet-and-greets for when you happen to be in the area: Renée Grashoff Schrijft

Renée Grashoff 

2025/36 - Feeling hot, hot, hot!

 And yes, heatwave nr. 3 of 2025 is a fact! This morning I walked Puck at 06.00 a.m. with 18° already, and today it is expected to reach 31°, which is officially bloody hot for the Dutch Delta. That is 87.8 Fahrenheit for you on the other side of the world.

I know, I know, when you live in Mexico or South-West Asia (like many of you lovely readers do), 87.8 is peanuts, all in a normal day. But to us Northern delta dwellers it is the talk of the day. Emergency heat plans are unfolded. Old people in care homes are forbidden to leave the shade and get forcefed ice lollies, I kid you not. And for gardeners like me it means water your pots or suffer the consequences!

The Blackberries, which should be at their best now, are shriveling on the bush. There are not many birds about either, so they don't get eaten either. Such a waste! I pick them though.

My Daylillies are doing well, but I have to admit I water them. That border next to the greenhouse is dry as a desert, they would not survive otherwise.

And this naughty Bindweed is benefiting from the spillover water that drips from the tap when I fill my can.

The Lavatera looks a lot like its wild cousin.

Another plant that takes advantage of spilled water is the Nasturtium. This one is scrambling over a compost heap next to another tap.

And so is the Pumpkin.  They are in a plot which is a bit neglected, but do they mind? Not at all.

Meanwhile I rejoice in my perennial Lathyrus, which does not get watered, but is doing very well now. Mind you, I do deadhead! It is not the mass of flowers which I seek yet, but it will get there next year, it is still young.

The perfection of Scabiosa. As long as I deadhead this, it will keep going for at least another month. The bees love it, as do I.

Totally different location! This is the garden of De Bollaarshoeve, situated on the Bollaarsdijk in Oostvoorne. It is staffed by people with a mental disorder and I go there because their homebaked apple pie is lovely. And obviously because the concept appeals to me. But seriously, that apple pie!

And this garden I stumbled across when I cycled to Oostvoorne with a friend. Their Dahlias are beautiful. As you can see, their soil is very sandy, which is not surprising, as this plot is in the Oostvoorne dunes. 

It gladdens my heart when I see people making an effort to garden. Next weekend it is the next round of the open garden scheme again, and I'll be sure to show you what gardens I visited.

Alright, I'll love you and leave you. Do follow this blog when you like it. And if you want to read more of my musings, click on the link to my website: Renée Grashoff Schrijft A translation button is provided. Bye!

Renée Grashoff