2025/33 - A Ban on Barren Balconies!

 I live in an apartment, on the top (3rd) floor, with a view that is marred by another (1 floor higher) apartment. For a person that craves greenery, and felt like a fish living in a fish bowl when I first moved here, putting up a green plant barrier was my first priority!

My  South facing balcony was furnished sooner than my living room, I swear.

There was a lot of trial and error involved in the first few years, I can tell you. For example the wind...This being the Dutch Delta, we have a LOT of it, and it only seems to become heavier.

Mistake nr.1: most cottage plants (which I adore and are my go-to plants) do not like the combination of the scorching sun and that heavy wind. They struggled. Sometimes died.

Mistake nr.2: shade loving plants don't either.

Mistake nr.3: my effort to cover the two side walls with climbers. The wind tore them down.

BUT! Many Mediterranean plants are very happy on my balcony. They just need some TLC during the long wet winters we have over here. 

My neighbours witnessed my efforts and wisely shook their heads. No use putting plants up there, it won't work, they said. Please make sure those planters will not go flying and land on our cars, they moaned (to be fair, in one storm one plant did take a nose dive, but luckily it landed in the middle of the street). Don't you get tired of dragging all that soil up there, they asked.

Me being a stubborn sort, I kept doggedly explaining it could be done, it was only a case of using the correct plants. And yes, I would be mindful of their cars. And besides, in my opinion, having a balcony devoid of plants is bad, but putting plastic ones on (in vogue when I arrived in 2018) is sacrilege. That was usually the point when they raised their eyebrows and left me to it.

Trial and error

Through trial (lots of it) and error (sigh), I slowly learned which plants survive my balcony conditions and which plants even thrive on them. Like Pelargoniums. Not quite my favourite plants, but hey, beggars etcetera. And they have grown on me, I must admit. 

I built a trellis planter and after a hesitant start my Clematis now covers it and is up to the top of it (2m). Last year I chanced a Pandorea, and not only did it survive the winter, but this year it has joined the Clematis at the top.

Slowly, it took years, but surely, more and more balconies in my block turned green! I am so very happy with that!! I call it the zwaan-kleef-aan method (a Dutch expression about swans that makes no sense whatsoever, but means that if one sheep has crossed the bridge, the others will follow).

Most neighbours have gone trendy, putting expensive Olive trees and Trachycarpus on, and I am still the only one with railing planters, but still! It is a victory over barren desert concrete balconies!

Yay!!

And I grow tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, lettuce, strawberries, and spinach on the balcony as well. Amongst the herbs and flowers. Last year I grew potatoes. Why not?

There is a tiny pond for the birds to drink out of (don't tell Puck, she thinks it is her private drinking bowl), with flowering plants in it that thrive. I get visited by many birds, and one of the Jackdaws left me a pretty green pebble, smack in the middle, in front of my door. You can see it next to the jolly tortoise above.

Absolutely, dragging up all those bags of soil is a slog. And dragging down the bags of spent flowers and soil is as well. But the men opposite me (expats, that block is full of expats working in the industry) cannot ogle me any longer, instead they see a lovely balcony garden. Puck can enjoy herself stealing strawberries and barking at the dogs and cats passing below on the street. (She's not allowed to bark too long, and she solves this problem by coming indoors to bark, all the while looking at me for approval)

So. Do you have a balcony? Make it green! You will do the neighbourhood and yourself a favour.

By the way, I will paint that concrete soon. Just building up the courage...all those plants will have to be moved indoors. Oh dear.

Have a great week, wherever you are.

Renée Grashoff 

2025/32 - Ponds, essential holes in the ground

 You are well aware that I am struggling with my frog pond, 'cause I have moaned about it often enough, right?

Whether it is the freakish weather, or that I have a leak, I simply cannot keep it filled up to the water level I need to keep my Waterlily happy.

In February, sure, no problem then! By then it is full of leaves that have blown in from the trees along the road which runs in between the city moat and the allotments.

Here it looks alright, happy Waterlily, but only because I filled it from the water butt just before taking the photo. I cheated.

Same. This was July 2023.

This year that water butt was empty by the end of April, and it has not filled up since. I keep the tap permanently open now, so every measly drop that falls onto my greenhouse roof gets transported straight down the gutter, through the butt and into the frog pond. It keeps a couple of inches of water in there. Enough to keep my salamander and plants alive, but not enough for the Waterlily. She lives, but has not produced one single bud this year. Sod it.

Now here is a pond! 

I visited the Open Garden event organised by Groei & Bloei, a gardening society in my country, and had the pleasure of walking around two ponds in one garden in Oostvoorne.

The lady of the house had 'done' the 2 hectare garden herself, she said off-hand, as if this was achieved between breakfast and lunch one day.  She owns the field to the right as well, and has an arrangement with a neighbour who keeps his sheep there. "Just to make sure no-one gets it into his head to build there", she stated. The garden is only 4 years old, but it looked as if it had been there for 40. Huge trees ("I was lucky those trees were already there"), good landscaping, beautiful borders with gorgeous plants. The white and black ducks were 'pets', and helped her keep the garden free of slugs and snails. They live in a coop (pen?) next to the pond. It rained (it has finally started raining, folks), but did I care? Nope!

And here is the other one. You cannot spot it, but on the other side slightly to the left there is a boardwalk for lounging on and a swim ladder, you know, to swim to this pebbled beach? And then lounge some more?

She has been very clever to oh so tastefully repeat the planting on both sides of this beach. A variety of high and low Echinaecea. My camera (old mobile phone) does not do justice to the jewel colours of those flowers. I could have dug them up and taken them to Hunky Dory, wet leaves and all. In fact, if it had not started to pelt down with rain a moment later, I could have stretched out on that beach and stayed for an hour.

What a garden! She used the dug out soil of those ponds to make mounds, on top of which there were fruit trees. So the garden was uncharacteristically hilly (no hills around this delta), and just restful lawn, colourful borders and the two huge ponds, surrounded by age old beaches and willows.

Paradise!

To me, with my tiny flat and my parcel of allotment, and my faulty frog pond, it showed how other people manage to live. Am I envious? Truthfully? A teensy weensy bit. Just of the garden, mind, not the lifestyle. But hey, I have this view every morning.

It is the dammed river Brielse Maas, re-named Brielse Meer (meer = lake), that flows at the end of my street (until it meets that stupid dam).

My little patch of prairie. Those grasses become waist high! Occasionally I spot a roe deer, or if I am extremely lucky a beaver. They cross from the Brielse Meer to the small waterway near it, to nibble on the trees there. I once came across one who had just climbed out of the Meer and was strolling along the grass path, not a care in the world. Until it saw Puck and me, and then legged it to safety. And believe me, a beaver is large and it can run! My dog was so flabbergasted that she did not even bark, just stood there.

This is Puck's "what's goin' on?" look.  

So. I started with ponds and I end with my doggie.

Have a lovely weekend, wherever you are!

Renée Grashoff 

2025/31 - Shades of the subtropics.

 Hello Singapore, hello Mexico!

You are on the other side of the world to me, but we have so much in common 😀 We are gardeners and wildlife lovers.

This morning I entered Hunky Dory at 07.30, through the heavy squeaky gate where the ripening brambles are bearing fruit now.

That early in the morning there is no one there, just the way I like it. The older I get, the less I enjoy the hustle and bustle of crowds. When I was young, I lived in London, and loved it. Hard to imagine now! 

When Puck and I did our early morning walkies at 05.30, we met a roe deer in the small meadow on the rampart. He (it was a male) saw us and froze. Fortunately Puck only scented it, because her eyesight is deteriorating. I so enjoy sightings like that!

But I know that in Singapore people think nothing of seeing families of otters patrolling the streets and parks. That is SO cool! And says a lot about how you treat animals.

The other wildlife I spotted today was a tiny spider (a gewone tandkaak) that was feasting on a dead bumblebee. I cannot imagine it had killed it, probably it was an opportunistic act.

Yesterday I watched Garden Rescue and heard that day-lilies are edible. Really? Frankly I don't dare try...

This is Hemerocallis Crimson Pirate, and I think they are much too lovely to eat!

The Lily in the middle is lovely, but it is the only one that survived the flooding of this bed in 2024.

You know that I adore roses, right, I have told you often enough 😊 The Desdemona and Schneewitchen both are on their second blooming now.

Gorgeous!

This shrub is a Mirte (Myrtus communis) or Myrrha. Apparently those lovely flowers are edible too. This is the first year that it seems happy to be in my garden. Last Summer I though I was losing it, so I pruned it back hard. Perhaps it is the long hot Spring of 2025 that revived it.

The Gaura is doing its best amongst the Crocosmia.

But this one...two years ago I had one flower. Last year I had one flower. This year there's...one flower. Rather disappointing.

That can't be said of the duo above! They have spread themselves all over the garden. The bees love them, so fine by me.

The apples are still rock hard. I'm hoping I can have a good harvest.

Out of an entire packet of seed, I have managed to grow 5 Zinnias. The rest succumbed to the sun and drought in the greenhouse, despite daily watering ... But: those 5 are lovely.

Well, I'll leave you with an overview of the pink/purple bed. Those Cosmea in the middle (not in bloom yet) are hot pink.

I hope you will have a great weekend, wherever you are.

Renée Grashoff 

2025/30 - Some you win, some you lose...

 July, true Summer, and my garden has exploded. This year the Crocosmia I planted three years ago have decided they would finally show what they are capable of. Finally my 'hot border' looks hot instead of lukewarm.

Needless to say I am very happy. The Lilies (both dark red and deep orange) are doing well too. But where is the gorgeous burnt sienna Alchemilla? Vanished. The yellow one is still there, but has hardly grown.

I planted the orange one behind the broom. Oh well.

The Clivia is much happier now that she is partly in the shade of the Silver Pine, and the dark red Heuchera is blooming. But I realised, whilst mowing my grass paths, that that part of my path is disappearing under the growth of that tree... placing my circle in the middle no longer in the middle. Beginner's mistake.

My neighbour has pulled his onions. There is something deeply satisfying in a harvest, I think, even if it is not my own! Lovely glaucous greenery.

Despite some leaf wilting affliction my Buddleia are blooming happily. And the Echinacea are wonderful.

I adore them! Those Fibonacci spirals!

And they make a lovely contrast with the drumstick Aliums. My pink/purple border definitely lives up to its name now.

Mind you, the yellow one does its best as well. I decided to make use of the rampant Solidago and planted a Fennel, not knowing that that Fennel would be equally as rampant. But it has quite a nice effect, don't you think?

The other corner of my plot is a mix of yellow and purple, so that it then morphes into the purple border. There is method in my chaotic madness ;-)

My daily watering of the Hydrangeas has paid off, they are not wilting despite the dry soil in that border. But I think that self-seeded red Currant will have to go... it is too near the path.

My efforts of hiding the useful but ugly water butts are paying off. My other neighbour told me he has used the seed of my special red Lily, and it has come up in his garden. That's so cool.

Okay, I'll leave you with a pic of my Rose. It is in its second bloom, has a lovely scent and was anonymous. Have a lovely weekend, and if you are curious about my author website, here is the link: Renée Grashoff Schrijft

At 07.00 a.m., when the sun suddenly hid itself.

2025/29 - Mrs McGregor's Garden

 When you are my age, you have probably grown up with Beatrix Potter's stories. Her little books were the first ones that did not only satisfy my need for cute naughty kittens and fluffy rabbits, but also woke me up to the concept of a kitchen garden. Alas, Mr McGregor scared the pants of me! But Beatrix's drawings of his garden were fascinating, and instilled a life-long love of kitchen gardens.

When maintained well, they are gorgeously poetic. The garden next to mine is such a garden. I will post a photo when you scroll down in this blog. But first I'll tell you about this veg garden.

My neighbour (mid-80's) has had this garden for over 60 years. He gardens the old- fashioned way: digging, rotating, milling, sowing seeds and planting out. His knees no longer allow him to kneel to thin out his beetroot, he says. I swear they thin out themselves, just to please him.

I would, too. His potatoes, in this terrible potato year, are a dream to behold. His strawberries were 4x the size of mine.  His cabbages produced fat healthy babies! He does everything just right.

For me, where the only carrots I grow are the wild variety (photo above) that seed themselves anywhere they please, his veg patch is a joy to look at. He, in turn, says he enjoys looking at my naturalistic chaos, which buzzes with insects. 

By the way, that bumblebee on the Hydrangea was still fast asleep when I took that photo at 07.30 a.m., while his mates were busily buzzing away.

Anyway: where my neighbour is Mr McGregor, I am Mrs McGregor. In true 20th century fashion, she hardly gets a mention in those books. I think she bakes a pie somewhere. But she certainly does not grow the veg! Well, neither do I. I love looking at them, but am pretty hopeless at growing them this year.

First my excuse was the drought. And still is. The hand full of yellow Raspberries that I managed and the one meal of Broad Beans are my successes. Along with the Romaine, Paksoi and Lettuce. But I am better at growing flowers. That is to say, flowers happily do their thing and I try to take care of them as best I can.

Despite heatwave nr 3, most flowers are uncomplainingly doing their thing. Some better than others, I must admit.

Right, time for that veg photo.

I took it this morning, from the corner of the almost emptied potato patch, looking towards my plot. To the right some succession potatoes (he's good at that), Romain, Cabbages, Beetroot. To the left Leeks, Lettuce, Onions. In the middle his amazing Strawberries (finished). Behind them more Onions. In his greenhouse Tomatoes, Cucumbers, String Beans, and Chinese Cabbage.

The monster Artichokes are mine. I had to tie them up to the obelisk after the storm we had exactly a week ago.

I braved the Ladybird larvae and dove in. They are over 2m tall by now, so unfortunately too tall for me to be able to watch the bumblebees using the flowers as hammocks in a week's time. I wrestled them to the obelisk, it was a bit like trying to get a cow to shift. Have you ever tried that? I have.

Right. I will leave you with a photo of the river near my house, the Brielse Maas (dammed off from the North Sea unfortunately, so the water turns green with algae in Summer). I will upload a new blog to my website today as well, so do take a look, why don't you? Renée Grashoff Schrijft

Brielse Meer/ Brielse Maas (same river, since dammed it is a 'meer' and no longer a river) at 06.15 this morning. My favourite walkies with Puck.

Have a good weekend, wherever you are!

Renée Grashoff