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/ - Boerenwormkruid Nieuws: Deel 2 van de trilogie komt uit!

 De kogel is door de kerk!* In voorjaar 2026 volgt deel 2 uit de trilogie over Noor en Agnieken, en kan jij dus lezen hoe het verhaal over deze twee sterke dames in 1573 en 2023 verder gaat.

(* eerst schreef mijn autoscript 'de vogel is door de jerk', wat ik héél toepasselijk vind, want vogels, een 'jerk' èn de kerk spelen een grote rol in dit deel)

De aankondiging van een signeersessie

   Noor heeft niets met de kerk, maar wel met moord. Een beetje morbide misschien, maar zij weet dat ze zéker niet de enige is die smult van het oplossen van een goede whodunnit.

Ze vindt weer een dode man, dit keer voor haar tuinpoort. Het brengt haar opnieuw op het pad van inspecteur Jansen, die ze dus ook irritant voor zijn voeten loopt. Althans, hij vindt haar lastig, zij wil alleen maar helpen! Dit keer wordt onze bejaarde speurneus daarbij geholpen door drie jonge mensen die, net als Noor zelf, buitenbeentjes zijn. Inspecteur Jansen vraagt schamper 'of ze nu een detectiveclubje hebben', maar Noor blijft hem mooi steeds één stapje voor.

Agnieken wordt volledig opgeslokt door de nasleep van de bevrijding van Den Briel door de Watergeuzen. De Spanjaarden zijn de stad uit, maar de Nederlanden zijn nog lang niet onder controle van Willem van Oranje. De gepolariseerde bevolking van Den Briel moet zichzelf staande houden in een hele onzekere tijd. Aarzelend, hiertoe aangezet door haar beschermer Johannes, neemt ze haar werkzaamheden als vroedvrouw en heler voor de armen als zijn 'nicht' weer op. Helaas verblijft de Geus die geprobeerd heeft haar zusje Elsken te verkrachten ook nog (ongestraft!) in Den Briel.

Ik durf te beweren dat de mensen die Boerenwormkruid met plezier hebben gelezen, ook deel 2 grappig, spannend en herkenbaar zullen vinden.

Okay: klaar voor De Grote Onthulling?

Deel 2 heet: Zwaartekracht.

Uiteraard is het mogelijk om alvast in te tekenen voor dit boek. De makkelijkste manier is om mij via mijn website een bericht te sturen. Dan hou ik je op de hoogte.

Bezoek vooral mijn website en blijf up to date: Renée Grashoff Schrijft

Groetjes!

2025/39 - Heksenwaag Oudewater/ Gardens Kasteel de Haar

Once in a blue moon I manage to see something of my own country. And every time, I am struck by how lovely it still is, despite being clogged up by traffic and swallowed whole by building projects. Recently I visited Oudewater and nearby Kasteel de Haar.

This castle is something out of a fairytale!

But first I'll tell you about Oudewater.

Now, don't expect a guidebook text; I am not a travel writer. I simply natter on about my likes and dislikes. And about gardens, of course!

Oudewater is a quaint 17th century town in the province of Utrecht, with tiny bits of 16th century still intact. But it got its town rights in 1265, and hey-ho, that is an old town, right?!

 Like in my own old town, most of its surviving houses are 17th century, undoubtedly due to the original older wooden houses not surviving. (How am I doing so far?)

Our destination was specific: the old Heksenwaag, or Witches weigh house. 

During the horrific persecution of witches that swept Europe in the 15th to 18th century, Oudewater provided a very important document which could save your life. You could step on the scales and get weighed. Too light, and you were a witch. Heavy enough, and no strangulation, drowning or pyre for you.

Definitely not a witch!

The Heksenwaag is a museum about the history of this persecution, and well worth a visit! Especially because it draws parallels with our day and age.

Kasteel de Haar

This castle was built on the ruin of the old one in 1892, by a blatantly rich family, who hired designer and architect Pierre Cuypers. Now, style is very personal. This style was state of the art in 1892. Love it or hate it, it certainly is impressive. What I like about it, is the history and the for me very important fact that it sits in the middle of an English Landscape garden.

Yes, that garden was, to me, wonderfully lovelier than all the riches inside. But do take the tour if you get there! I'll give you one example, and then it's back to that garden.

Sorry, plants are my 'thing', hahaha.

 

This is the part with the Dahlia borders, on the side of the castle. And gosh, those Dahlias! Gorgeous!

There were many, many more! And all looking good, despite the bone-dry summer.

This must be the oldest weeping Beech tree I have ever seen. Very impressive!

I took many photos of the interior of the castle, but this is a garden blog...so...

We will have to return to see the Roman garden and the maze...there simply was not enough time. If you ever get to my country, do take time off to visit this castle. You will not be disappointed.

Okay, time to say bye bye. Do follow this blog if you like it, leave me a comment, or drop me a line on my website Renée Grashoff Schrijft

That beech! Trees are simply the best!

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 

2025/37 - Open Garden Scheme Groei & Bloei 2

 A month ago I promised you all the 2nd instalment of my visit to some gardens in my area of the Dutch Delta. This time I visited a modern garden in Oostvoorne (on my island of Voorne) and a Japanese style garden on the next island over (Goeree- Overflakkee).

Oostvoorne has one of those idyllic roads that everyone knows by reputation, and then sighs 'oh, I would love to live on that road'. It used to be a sandy road, as sand is the predominant substance around there, it bordering the dunes. It is asphalted now, but still called the Zandweg (Sandy road).

This garden is modern, but at the same time quite traditional, in that it is divided into large square or rectangular beds divided by hard paving. That's the modern bit.

The traditionality lies in the use of old-fashioned plants.

So: modern beds, with traditional plants that thrive in sandy soil. A definite win-win in this garden.

The front garden is green. You immediately feel calmed.

You reach the much larger back garden from the side of the house, through a wooden gate.

The first thing that struck me was that the bricked or paved paths were wide. The second thing was they were immaculate. 

Now, when you follow this blog, you'll know that this style is NOT my personal preference... But here it was very effective, and again very calming.

The lady gardener admitted that this year was a challenging one for her many Hydrangeas; she simply had to water them for the open days, especially the Annabelle. But many of her other plants took the scorching sun in their stride.

There was a pond (I love ponds), only four years old, which was not supposed to be that big, but they got a bit carried away with the digger, she said.

It had a lovely Waterlily (not in view on my photo), but I was mostly captivated by the tall grasses at the far end.

There is something exciting about grasses swaying on the breeze, isn't there?

The water was crystal clear, which is great obviously, but at the same time it enhanced the fact that the plants on the upper shelf were not very large (yet). And that in turn made those rocks around the pond stand out. So, in my opinion this pond still needs some time to fulfil its promise.

The (again very tidy) greenhouse was the latest addition. All in all a visibly cherished and very well maintained garden.

Next we drove across the Haringvlietdam to Goeree, where on the Voorstraat in Stellendam is the Japanese style garden that I was really looking forward to, as it is a style I admire.

The front garden of the house was a surprise, in that there was absolutely nothing Japanese about it, and neither was the side garden. Hm...

But later on the gardener told me that he simply had not got round to that bit yet.

But then I got to the back garden, clucked onto my way by the chickens in the large coop.

 And there it was! The huge back garden, enclosed by old Conifers and fruit trees, and dominated by three large connected ponds.

Love at first sight!

I told you I 'have a thing' about ponds, well, I was not disappointed!

This garden is crammed full of plants.

The first pond (to the left of this path, but see the photo beneath this one) which is fed by the rainwater that flows from the roof is a Waterlily pond chock full of very friendly golden orfe and goldfish. Then it flows into the second pond, which has an Acer island with many different Acers on it, as well as the traditional Japanese lantern. And then into the third pond, which  has a traditional staggered wooden walkway, 'to fool the demons'.

There also is a traditional red bridge connecting the first two ponds.

Just one of the many delights along the path to the teahouse at the back of the garden.

The back of the garden is mostly in shade, so it has Acers, Conifer and Pines as well as a large woodpile fence for insects that feed the many birds that live in this garden. It also has Rhododendrons, but they struggle due to the heavy clay of this garden. They are pampered, but still.

The owner came into a lorryload of leftover slabs, so has made rocky mounds all along the borders of the garden.

The largest rockgarden.

The  parterre next to the house.

 

Would you believe this garden was only wrestled from a mess of brambles and totally overgrown fruit trees four years ago? It is a labour of love, and not finished yet. I was utterly charmed by it, and full of admiration for the hard work. The owner promised it would look even better next Spring, so I promised I would come back then.

And that's it. I hope you enjoyed joining me on my garden tour. If you like this blog, please do follow me. And if you'd like to keep informed of my writing, look up my website on Renée Grashoff Schrijft

Take care, wherever you are.

Renée Grashoff