The first garden show of the year

May 9, 2013 by 2 Comments

havesToday is the first day of the Malvern Spring Gardening Show – the first garden show of the year and the start of a new season. All the garden designers in Worcestershire have been busy creating the most beautiful gardens hoping that they may get a gold medal.

The exhibition area is located near the beautiful Malvern Hills in Worcestershire, so there is plenty to see during and after the show.

The big tent is the centre of it all, and it is packed with flowers and arrangements in beautiful colours. More than 100 nurseries are represented, and only the most perfect flowers are on show.

Some of the highlights will be demonstrations, talks, botanical and flower art, great food and lots of possibilities to do some shopping for the garden at home.

Fotos: © Mia Folkmann

Filed Under: Culture, England, Flowers, Gardens, Worcestershire Tagged With: , ,

Keukenhof flower park

April 21, 2013 by 2 Comments

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Right now spring is at its peak in the Keukenhof flower park near Lisse in the Netherlands. The flowers are a bit late this year because of the cold winter, and when I was there last weekend, they hadn’t all unfolded. But there was still plenty to see.

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Everywhere you could see impressive flowerbeds in all colours, and the greenhouses were almost overwhelming – the beautiful sight of so many flowers was absolutely incredible.

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Keukenhof was originally the hunting ground of one of the castles in the Netherlands and also the place where you picked herbs for the kitchen – “keuken” means kitchen in Dutch. Later new owners of the castle had the garden designed in the English landscape style, and today Keukenhof belongs to a fund.

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Since 1949, the garden has been open to the public as a place where the many flower growers in the area exhibit their plants, and every year kilos of seeds are sown and kilos of bulbs planted.

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The castle Keukenhof is now a museum, and it is surrounded by a lovely park that you are welcome to walk in. And the flowerpark is open until May 20, so there is still time to see the fabulous show of blooming beauties.

Foto: © Mia Folkmann

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Filed Under: Flowers, Gardens, Netherlands Tagged With: , , , , ,

Open Gardens

June 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I love Open Garden days. I have visited so many beautiful private gardens in England and in Denmark, and even if some are huge and some are rather small, you can always find something to inspire you.

In England I have visited gardens that I just happened to find. I had almost driven past them when my eye caught the yellow sign announcing GARDEN OPEN TODAY, and these whims have given me some of the most wonderful experiences.

One of the gardens served tea in an old ruin that time and nature had transformed to a green oasis. Another garden continued all the way down to the beach, where peacocks roamed. And a third garden had a wonderful view to the nearby estuary where sailboats dotted the sky with their white triangular sails.

In Denmark the Open Garden scheme is not as common as in England, but we do have some gems. Yesterday I visited one garden nearby, and even if it was small, there was a lot to see. And beauty can be found in the smallest places.

Photo: © Mia Folkmann

Filed Under: Gardens

Bernstorff Palace Gardens

April 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

There are many parks in and outside Copenhagen, and one of them is Bernstorff Palace Gardens. It is a large park, and while some of it is rather wild, other parts are almost like an English landscape garden. There is a rose garden, an orchard and a pretty tea house, and the white castle is prominently positioned at the top of a hill.

Bernstorff Palace Gardens is named after King Frederik V’s foreign minister Johan Hartvig Ernst Bernstorff, who built the castle in the middle of some of the most beautiful countryside. At that time you could see all the way to Copenhagen and all the way to the sea.

Since the 1850s the castle has been used as a summer residence for the royal family, but today it belongs to the Danish State. The Palace Gardens have been open to the public since 1945 – and since I live next to the park for the moment, I will tell you a little more about it later…

Photo: © Mia Folkmann

Filed Under: Castles, Copenhagen, Culture, Denmark, Gardens, Nature Tagged With: , , , , ,

A Handkerchief Tree

April 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I love to stroll in an arboretum with unusual trees from around the world. One of the places I often go to is Batsford Arboretum in Gloucestershire, which has one of the largest private collections of trees in England. In the spring you can see the grass completely covered with yellow daffodils and white snowdrops, and another spring attraction is the many Japanese cherry trees. They look like beautiful white and pink clouds when they bloom from the end of March and into May.

One of the more special trees in the arboretum is a Handkerchief Tree. It originates from China and is not often seen in Europe, and one can well understand why it got its English name – it is not hard to imagine that it isn’t leaves but small, fine handkerchiefs swaying in the wind.

Photo: © Mia Folkmann

Filed Under: England, Gardens, Nature Tagged With: ,

Yellow in the garden

April 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

How do you fell about yellow? As a colour in the garden, I mean? Somehow yellow is a bit overlooked – in my garden as well – but it is a bit strange. All these little sunny flowers bring so much joy, and my mood always lifts at the sight of them.

This beautiful yellow rose is from David Austin in England. I visited his rose garden (and plant centre) last summer, and of course I had to bring home some beauties. This is one of them. I can’t remember the name, but the scent is divine…

Filed Under: Flowers, Gardens Tagged With: ,

Hidcote Manor Gardens

March 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Hidcote Manor Garden is one of the most famous gardens in England. It has a beautiful position and is well hidden in the lovely Gloucestershire just a few hour’s drive from London. The garden was created by Major Lawrence Johnston, who was born in France and came from a wealthy American family.

The garden is divided into smaller garden rooms, and one of them has an almost Mediterranean feel with a sundial as a centerpiece. In the summer months great pots of agaves and other tropical plants with sharp-pointed leaves are placed at the edge of the beds, and the whole area is surrounded by tall beech hedges.

In a remote corner of the garden the moisture-loving plants, astilbs, lilies and the dramatic Gunnera with huge leaves thrives. The plant looks like something from prehistoric times and can be several meters in height and width.

In summer it almost looks like the beds leading up to the two small gazebos have caught fire, because they are filled to bursting point with fiery red flowers. If you continue up the stairs in front of the small houses and past the row of trees with trimmed crowns, a fine iron gate opens up an unforgettable view.

Extract from the Emag By Mia Folkmann No 2.

Photo: © Mia Folkmann

 

Filed Under: England, Gardens Tagged With: ,

Garden show in Great Malvern

February 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

A visit to an English garden show is at the top of many people’s wish list…

Royal Horticultural Society arranges several garden shows each year, and they are all very popular. At these shows you get a lot of ideas and inspiration to bring home – or maybe just dream about. This is where the new flower varieties are presented, and you get insight into what is happening in the world of gardening.

The best known show is Chelsea Flower Show, but for over 25 years the Malvern Spring Gardening Show has marked the beginning of the season. The exhibition area lies beautifully near the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire, where there is plenty to look at before and after the show.

The huge tent is bursting with flowers and arrangements in the prettiest colors. Everyone is of course trying to outdo each other – in an exhibition like this only the best is a winner.

More and more emerging designers are participating, and they all show great ingenuity in the many show gardens. The most talented designers earn an award, and the prizes are well deserved, as it must be a great achievement to build a garden from scratch in just three weeks.

The show gardens are extremely diverse. Some themes could be peaceful water gardens inviting you to sit and enjoy the sound of trickling water, while others may be edible gardens, rock gardens, trimmed gardens or memorial gardens.

There is something for everyone at the annual Spring Show in Malvern. Whether you have green fingers or just want to enjoy the atmosphere at such a cosy English gardening show, you will be thrilled. The art of limitation is hard to master at these shows – most visitors leave the exhibition carrying armfuls of flowers and plants.

Photo: © RHS

Filed Under: England, Gardens Tagged With: