2025/24 - May flowers, what's not to love?

 Website: Renée Grashoff Schrijft for the latest blog about my novel.

Three days of rain (and one storm unfortunately) and my parched desert garden has rediscovered her oomph!

Even the frog pond has filled again, rescuing my beloved Waterlily from a nasty thirsty death. 

This is the view from the other side. All those aquatic plants you see were wilting in the drying up slush.

My Iris are happy as well, eventhough they were alright with the lack of rain. This is called 'Sultry Mood.

The Bearded Lily was the first to bloom, and is still going strong. I hope the three new ones, babies really, I planted in the border next to my greenhouse in October will be as lovely as this one. Their colour will be a surprise, they didn't come with a label.

This is that border (to the left; to the right is the plot of my neighbour who lets it go to ruin). In spring my border is gorgeous, filled with spring bulbs, but then there is a huge gap until the Hydrangeas start to flower. So I thought to fill the gap(s, literally) with Hemerocallis and Bearded Lily. Smart, eh?

Look who greeted me on that path. There were two, but the other one didn't want to pose. In Dutch this butterfly is called a Kleine Vos (little fox), Aglais urticae. They lay their eggs on nettles, so I make sure I leave them a patch near the rhubarb. They are one of the most common butterflies in my garden, but I am always chuffed to see them.

Sorry, my camera could not deal very well with the glowing white of Schneewitchen... But I wanted to show you anyway. It makes a lovely combination with the Valerian and Nigella, don't you think?

The giant Fennel has self-seeded on both sides of the planter, but I'll leave it. I love the scent, and I save the seeds for cooking, so three are better than one. All plants on this patch are self-seeders, and I let them do their thing.

This Sisyrinchium striatum (Bieslelie in Dutch) or Carex flava, is looking better than ever. Two years ago it struggled to establish, but look at it now, eh?

The Valerian has made itself at home all over the garden, both in red and white.

It tolerated the lack of water. The Aliums did not...they have failed to show themselves, there are only three left. But the spiked leaves of the Crocosmia are promising.

The Heuchera, looking brittle and sad, have rallied. Such a lovely colour, this 'Palace Purple'. I am on the fence about that latest colour to come from the nurseries though, too unnatural.

Here you are, one of the three Aliums in amongst the Sweet William.

And thus ended my gardening, as the next shower blew in very fast on that SW wind...

Have a great weekend, won't you? And check out my website when you have a moment.

Renée Grashoff 

2025/23 - Rain! RAIN!!

 First of all: I made a typo last week, sorry. It was blogpost 2025/22 (and not 12). And I have uploaded a new blogpost to my website Renée Grashoff Schrijft

And here we are: it has started raining - finally!

I woke up to the sound of rain lashing my bedroom window on Friday, and I rejoiced. No other word for it. My plants were very happy as well, I could tell. The only thing is, it not only started raining, but the temperature plummeted as well. Going from 26 to 10° degrees C during the morning, was a bit of a shock to my system. And I bet to the system of my tomatoes as well, poor things. Suddenly I was back into sweaters and wearing a mac.

And then disaster struck. I hurt my left knee. Again. My arteries in that leg are bad, it's a family thing...Not that that knowledge helps.

Anyway... going gardening has had to be postponed for a few days. So the photo above was my balcony on Sunday. And the rest of the photos below are as well.

But hey, my frog pond is saved, it was on the brink of having dried up completely. So I am not complaining!

Still, last week I told you I am thinking hard about my plants. If this Spring drought is going to be a yearly given, it makes sense to take out the ones most affected by the dry spell. 

I did a round in the pouring rain Friday  morning to see which plants looked drab, and which had done well despite getting no water at all for three months.

It is about 50/50.

Which have done worst? My veg. Such a waste of money and above all: time.

Still, I did get two meals out of my two sugarsnap plants. And the curly endive did well, as well as the lettuce.

But the cabbage? Disaster!

I have high hopes for this grape though, it seems to be doing well so far, as does the one in the garden.

So now I am waiting for the berries: strawberry, yellow raspberry and red currant all have survived.

I wish I could show you the lilies and roses in Hunky Dory though...they are all looking absolutely wonderful!

Hopefully next week.

Have a good time, wherever you are.

Renée Grashoff 

2025/22 - Republished

 It's unnecessary telling you that we have not had rain since mid-February, for I have been keeping you up to date with the lack of water in my part of the world. Time to rename my Dutch Delta? Dutch Desert?

Although on the one hand I am really enjoying the sunny days, by being outdoors for most of the time, gardening, walking, cycling. And sitting out on pavement terraces having coffee. On the other hand I am getting really worried about the water table. In some parts of the Southern Netherlands there is a ban on spraying water on the fields for farmers already. In my part no ban just yet, but I can feel it coming.

Almost dry...

   My frog pond 1000 l. water tank has been empty for over a week now, which is a first for me. Last year it was overflowing due to the months of rain...Now my frog pond just holds some watery slush, and my waterlily is really sad and suffering. 

   Due to rock hard soil I could not plant my seedlings, so in desperation I planted them on the edges inside the frog pond. When those Calendula and Cosmea actually survive, I'll let you know! Who knows, perhaps I'll set a trend.

   On the happy side, some of my established plants are doing fine. They obviously have put their roots down deep enough to get some moisture. But yet... I have been thinking if it might be prudent to change my garden design to cater for those extremely dry spring months we have been having for years now (except for last year, when my garden was under water).

The only things holding me back so far are:

 1. Money (lack of)

2. This is a predominantly veg growing allotment community. I feel hesitant to throw in a load of pebbles and grit.

Mind you, if I owned the plot, I would!!!

Still, I will look hard at my plants this year: which ones hate being in that dry rock hard clay, and which don't mind at all? My roses enjoy their pots so far.

I adore looking closely at my Alliums, they are so pretty!

And so are the Iris.

The Artichokes are dwarfing the Salvias as usual. And the Clematis is growing outward instead of upward, it seeks the light.

I am so happy with my yellow Raspberry, it is doing very well. The Redcurrant behind it seemed dead, but I pruned it very short and now it is growing again. But oh my, look at how dry everything is, the grass is scorched.

The Daisy and Campion in the orchard are enjoying themselves.

Right. Time for a coffee for me, and perhaps for a second one for you. If you are curious about my website, here is the link: Renée Grashoff Schrijft

I'll leave you with an overview of Hunky Dory from the back. Have a great weekend, wherever you are!

Renée Grashoff 

2025/21 - Rain? Hm...what was that?

 Don't you worry, I am not going to rant about the lack of rain. Although I have practically forgotten what it feels and looks like by now...

Instead I am going to rave about my roses. 

When you have been following this blog for some years, and yes, some of you have, you'll know I am passionate about roses. And that even though Monty Don calls them 'tough as old boots', I struggle to keep them happy in my temperamental garden. That has a lot to do with the soil: very heavy clay, and practically lifeless because of 60 years of veg growing. There was no life in it, meaning no soil animals, when it took it over in 2021.

So I cut my losses, turned pragmatic and planted my Desdemona in a large planter in 2022, after I saw my other roses struggling in the clay. And it is absolutely wonderful!

To the right of Desdemona, against the bamboo, is a white Schneewitchen climbing rose on the verge of opening up her buds. Yes. In a pot as well. It means cycling to the garden every day to water the pots. So be it.

This anonymous rose, which has a lovely subtle scent, is actually in the clay. Every flower blooms for just one day, but there are many buds.

My Iris is just about to flower as well. It is next to the frog pond, in some partial shade, so it is happy. I have given it a babysitting task this morning: I have planted my gasping Calendula seedlings IN the pond mud. My pond water butt has been empty for the last week, so the pond is drying up...

Another pot holds my new kiwi. It seems happy, but it should be, it gets spoiled by me.

As does this fern...watering! Totally against my principle, but otherwise it will give up the ghost.

The rhubarb is fine so far, as it is next to the ditch. Pretty as they are, I have cut out the flowers this morning, and cut myself another armfull of stalks. 

I brought a load to the women language group I go to twice a week to teach them Dutch, but only two of them were brave enough to want to try to cook the rhubarb. It is not known in large parts of Europe or other parts of the world.

Mind you, Jane from China and Tatjana from Greorgia tried, and pronounced it very nice.

The clematis has survived so far.

Look at the colour of my grass! Bone dry.

Oh well...there will be some rain, sometime... In the meantime I'll give my garden daily pep talks.

I will leave you with the last photo of darling Desdemona.

Isn't she absolutely fabulous?!

Have a lovely (Mothers Day in the Netherlands) Sunday.

Renée Grashoff 

2025 /20 - Silly temperatures

We have reached a high level of amazing weirdness: on Thursday afternoon it was 29,5°C in the South of my country. 

Not over here near the North Sea though...we 'only' reached 27° due to the seawater only being 10°. The government thought it prudent to warn people flocking to any kind of open water (the schools have their May break) that it was not sensible to go swimming. Mind you, the PFAS pollution is such that I wonder if it is sensible at any temperature...

Anyway, my seedlings were gasping! And the soil outside is rock hard, so planting them out was no option either. That really pissed me off, pardon my language. I tried to solve the problem by transplanting them to large pots. It means even more pot watering, sigh, but so be it. It was this or chuck them into the garden as compost.

On the positive side the garden is looking fine. Everything already established is taking the weather into its stride. But my neighbour, whose water butt is almost empty yet again, was shaking his head. His veg need water.

My salad greens, cucumber, cherry and zebra tomato on the balcony are doing fine, with plenty of water. Every other day I am watering for almost an hour. I bet my water bill will be up again this quarter. Oh well. My water company then sends me an e-mail with sad faced emojis: 'you have used up more water than this time last year!' Yeah, duh, last year we had the wettest spring ever.

My romain is getting to the end of their lifespan, but it has fed me for two weeks, in various forms. Oh, btw, Google people, endive is not the translation of andijvie! Endive is witlof. Just saying. Shall I send you my invoice?

This is the proof that I successfully managed to keep my Pelargoniums alive this winter. Both red and white. So happy with that!

Back to Hunky Dory. This beauty is self-seeded! I think it is absolutely gorgeous.

Bernagie/ komkommerkruid

   And next to the also self-seeded Bernagie it makes for a very welcome guest.

   Mind you, there is a very fine balance between 'lovely garden' and 'utter chaos'. And my garden has the tendency to want to convert back to wilderness. Having neighbours on two sides who seem to have forgotten they have a plot (meaning the weeds there are knee high), I really need to keep on top of things and dissuade the more aggressive invaders from taking over my garden.

   Fortunately my other neighbour is extremely neat.

Talking about plants that self-seed, the Digitalis have discovered the path to my greenhouse. There are dozens of plants there this year. I let them stay, they are much too nice to pull out.

The only surviving Camassia being lovely next to the pine.

And this is it for this week.

I wish you a good week, hopefully the weather will treat you well, wherever you are.

If you would like to read more, use the link to visit my website Renée Grashoff Schrijft

Take care!

Renée