There is undeniable magic about the first snow, especially in mid-February and in a climate where it is almost bound to be the last. Where I live now, it is so rare when the snow does not melt immediately. A week of freezing temperatures ensured that the magic stayed for days. The garden looked stunningly…
This year we hosted a small cherry-blossom-viewing party, hanami, for the first time. I had come to think that the cherry tree in our garden (a swaying factor in our decision to buy this house) deserved a celebration. A dedicated party thrown in its honor - despite the tree being, most likely, a Kanzan. My…
Like a goddess and a servant in a classical myth, my two main horticultural takeaways from our holiday in England. My move to Holland pre-dates my interest in gardening, so I was not quite familiar with them – both are rare in the urban gardens of the Randstad. Early on during our trip, we visited…
My very own harbinger of spring is here. Sitting perched on a high branch of the Japanese cherry tree, deep black after the storms, stark against brightening sky. A black bird on a black branch, a perfect kacho-ga in monochrome, singing in the rain. The bird is marking the territory. It must be a young…
My fascination with camellias is not new, it dates back to my teenage years. We didn’t have camellias growing in gardens, of course, not with the climate like that. They were then completely exotic, faraway beauties and in those pre-historic (aka pre-google) times I didn’t even know what they looked like. But the allure of…
I am late with this again. Although not as late as last year, when I planted my bulbs around New Year, a true record and not to be repeated. Why do I insist on running so late on this particular garden task, time and again? It’s not as if I didn’t buy all these cute…
My roots and bulbs 