I think Dylan Lewis sculpture garden in South Africa is one of my favourite gardens in the whole world. This is saying a lot, considering I have visited an extraordinary number of gardens all over! Those who follow my blog for a while know that whenever I travel, all roads lead to a garden somewhere along the way. It really is a must see if you happen to be near Cape Town as it is less than an hours drive from there. The success of this garden lies not just in Dylan Lewis amazing larger than life sculptures, but also in how he marries them with the landscape and landscapes the gardens around ..read more

This time last year I was lucky enough to get away to West Dean College, UK, for a weekend to re-charge my batteries and enjoy the early spring that the milder English winters provide. It turned out to be a bad-weather-weekend, with low grey skies and a chill wind that cuts through the bones. I didn't mind. Back at home in Finland the snow still covers the ground at this time of year, and there are few signs that spring will ever come around again. In stark contrast to my home, spring had absolutely arrived at the gardens of West Dean. The lawns underneath the orchard in the old kitchen gard ..read more

One of my favourite botanical gardens in the whole world - Kirstenbosch - lies nestled in the foothills of Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa. Not only is the flora and fauna absolutely spectacular, but it is also beautifully laid out and preserved in the wild kind of way that I have come to love. It is for good reasons considered one of the five most important botanical gardens of the world, acting as a champion of building biodiversity knowledge. The area spans an impressive total of 528 hectares of which only 36 hectares are cultivated, leaving the rest as a conservation area for indi ..read more

In the last days of November the ground froze deep, and soon after it began snowing. It is not so common to get a deep layer of snow so early in the year, and it delighted me greatly! Waking up to the soft blue light and taking the first walk of the day as seamist coveres the lake is one of the greatest joys I know. The sky heralds more snow with the old adage "Pink skies in the morning, sailors warning. Pink skies in the evening, sailors dreaming." and I wonder just how much snow we will have before Christmas? The village society Hembygdens Vänner i Snappertuna organised a course in bi ..read more

Living in the country I often think about the nature of light. In a town there is so much artificial light that it becomes a question of wether the sun is shining or not, wheras in the country I notice the variations in the light even on sunny days. In autumn this becomes all the more pronounced, because light takes on a completely different quality as the sun begins to hang lower in the sky. The first thing I notice around the end of September is how much warmer the light is in the mornings and evenings, and then that as autumn progresses the brightness of the light at midday stands in even ..read more

August has crept up on me quietly like the nights that keep getting darker and longer. Unlike spring that tends to arrive with a dramatic increase in light and the fanfare of returning birds, autumn arrives by stealth. Towards the end of the month the birds begin emigrating south again, and there is a rush of noise when they call out to their flock to fall in line and form ploughs, but for most of the month there is a silent lushness softly hugging me as I tend the gardens. The first half of the summer was intensely dry with hardly any rain, and then towards the middle of July when the rains ..read more

As I always seek perfection it is rare that I feel satisfied with my garden, and yet there are so many parts of it that are absolutely gorgeous at the moment. Amongst these is the giant catnip, Nepeta Six Hills Giant, which this year have put on a beautiful show. It is such a great perennial, surviving weeks of dry weather even in the poorest soil. This year my climbers too have - finally! - put on a great show. Perhaps their roots have grown deep enough for them to reward my many years of patience with a good show of flowers? The climbers in the pictures above are deep red honeysuckle Lonic ..read more

We've had the longest dry spell this summer, with six weeks of no rain. I've been looking at the gardens drying out week after week, and as I only water new plants most of my borders have been looking sad. The plants that have put down deep roots have survived, but flowered sparingly or gone to seed early. Normally I have a sea of brilliantly purple Allium giganteum filling up the woodland garden at Humlegård, but this year they put on a bleak show before withering. I was all the more pleased then, that at the red house my 'new' statue border put on a fantastic display! Lady's mantle (Alchem ..read more

An extempore trip driving through Germany last week ended with the welcome respite of visiting another botanical garden. Having spent most of the last few years at home on the farm, I had quite forgotten how stressful it is to drive along large and super busy motorways and to be honest I found it quite exhausting. My friend Maria turned up to help share the burden, and I was really grateful to have a co-driver! Maria and I have travelled a lot together, and she wasn't in the least surprised that all roads lead to some kind of garden. It gives me great pleasure to "collect" visits to botanica ..read more

This years winter was long and rich in snow, but suddenly, in just a few weeks, it all melts and spring arrives for real. Lulu the snow dog is the only one who is sad that the seasons are changing, as she loves the snow more than anyone I know, whereas I rejoice at watching it disappear. It has been fascinating watching it literally melting infront of my eyes, with a few meters of the snow blanket disappearing each day and it all vanishing within a week. Outside the red house there is an ugly electricity box that blocks the view of the house like an irritating eyesore mocking me every time I ..read more