Den blå hagen på Huseby

Litt snø, masse sol. Fortsatt typisk april

@brittarnhild

Det snødde i dag tidlig, men så kom sola og vips så var snøen borte. Det er vel sånn snø som kalles smeltesnø, er det ikke? Som hjelper den gamle snøen og all isen med å smelte.

Det var godt og varnt i solveggen, så vi spiste middag ute. men da jeg skulle ta fotorunden min, kjente jeg at 5 grader egentlig er ganske kaldt.

Nåja, sakte men sikkert går det framover i hagen.

 

Små peonhoder malt med speilrefleks

@brittarnhild

Peoner er blant favorittblomstene mine og de finnes rundt omkring i mange av bedene i akeleiehagen. Denne klosterpeonen, som er den første til å vise seg fram om våren, er den eldste jeg har. Jeg fikk den midt på åttitallet av moren til ei god venninne. Jeg hadde fått min første hage og hun delte gavmildt fra sin. Det er bare noen dager siden snøen forsvant herfra, under snøen var allerede de første peonhodene på vei opp. 

Ofte drømmer jeg om å kunne male. Da ville jeg malt naturen akkurat slik den folder seg ut, dag for dag, time for time, om våren. Jeg prøver meg av og til med pensel og vannfarger, akryll eller oljemaling. Men det blir liksom aldri slik jeg vil ha det. Så da tar jeg fram kameraet i steden :-)

 

 

En liten pause

@brittarnhild

Jeg tar en bitteliten pause fra @akeleiehagen, drar til England, priser våren, besøker hager, går i kloster og nyter litt varmere vær :-)

 

15.juni

@brittarnhild

Etter å ha deltatt på friluftsgudstjeneste på 1000års stedet, var det flott å komme hjem til god tid i en frodig hage.

 

Peonies and Columbines

@brittarnhild

Along a western wall, under the kitchen veranda, I have a difficult flowerbed. Difficult because "nothing" will grow there. or rater, it grows perfectly well during the summer months, along with the weeds, but in winter the frost is so deep, it kills almost everything.

Almost everything.....until two years ago. In the late autumn then a friend and neighbour came with some peonies which had to be removed from her garden because of some digging around their house. The only place I had to put them were in my "problem bed".
So I did, and last summer they came up fresh and strong.

Encouraged by the peonies survival, I planted some columbines there.

And guess what......

....today this bed is one of the most charming and colourful bed in the whole Blue Garden.

 

Peonies in bloom

text and images britt-arnhild

I was out in the garden early this morning, putting together a bouqet for a friend´s birthday. One peony surrounded ny a lot of blues.
The one ripe peony was the only one I found this morning. Then, a few hours later, when I came home from work, the sun had done wonders, and as I sat down I could almost see one after another of the peonies open.

There are many different types of peonies in The Blue garden.
Red, pink, whites.

This huge red one, a klosterpeon or bondepeon (monastery peony or farmer´s peony) is the first one to bloom. And it is also the oldest one in my collection.
It was given to me around 25 years ago from the mother of a friend.
We lived in another house then,
but I took it with me when we moved into The House in the Woods
11 years ago.

I will show you more photos as the different types unfold.

Peonies ready to burst

text and images

Come with me on a walk around The Blue Garden,
and discover that peonies are everywhere.

When I first started my own garden, I dreamed about filling it with roses.
Hundreds of them.

I soon realised that roses in a garden as far north as mine
was not the best idea.
Then the mother of a friend gave me my first peony, a klosterpeon,
and I was hooked.

Now the first ones are about to bloom.

Can you see the small ants?
I have learned that they are assential for the buds to help them open into full bloom.