After a really, really, really long hiatus Anders & I are back and ready to share what’s going on here at Fjordnaer. We’ve made a lot of exciting changes in the garden over the past year, and I’m going to spend the next week or so catching you up on where things are at right now.  To start with, here’s a picture of of some larch (Larix decidua) and mirabelle plum (Prunus domestica subsp. syriaca) looking gorgeous on a sunny April afternoon.

And pheasants, who have been regular guests around the bird feeder all winter:

A fox sniffing around on the pond.  Maud, as you can imagine, was having a total conniption.

We probably won’t really spring into action until the weekend, but there was one thing that needed immediate attention.  The rocambole bulbils (Allium scorodoroprasum) came out of cold storage and were just beginning to sprout, so JD had a quick potting session:

(The plant in the terracotta pot is some French tarragon we’re overwintering.)

As you can see in the background of the last picture, winter is back – it snowed all day.

Tending the fire:

Some pruning:

Swelling lilac buds:

Sun-bathed Fjordnær:

A quiet moment:

Our seed orders haven’t arrived yet but we’re dying to get our hands dirty, so we decided to plant some things that we collected ourselves last year (Orlaya grandiflora and Verbena bonariensis), something that we helped ourselves to at the Botanical Garden in Copenhagen (Potentilla gracilis var. nutallii) and the primulas we bought in the UK over Christmas:

There’s a lot of conflicting info out there about germination methods.  We’ve tried many different ones over the years – here are two examples.  If seeds need stratification (a cold period necessary to break dormancy) we find that sowing in normal seed compost and chucking them into the shed for a couple of months seems to work well.  Primulas are new to us, so we’re trying one pot in the shed and two in the house.  We’ll keep you posted on what works best.

JD has been dying to get the meadow beds mowed to give our self-sown annuals a chance to germinate before the grass swamps them, so the riding lawn mower made its first appearance of the year:

One very important note – they need to be thoroughly raked over to get rid of the clippings.

Finally, something that makes us very, very happy:

At least two of our cyclamens made it through the winter!!!  (You might want to click to enlarge the images – the leaves are still teeny-tiny – smaller than the nail on your little finger.)  The seeds came from a mix of hardy varieties, so we’ll probably have to wait until they bloom before we can identify them.

Lots of birdsong too – mostly tits – plus several magpies squabbling over either mates or territory.  Spring is definitely on its way.

Two views of our spread:

And some of Anne Mie’s gorgeous portraits…

Us at the front door:

Anders picking apples for Anne Mie:

The courtyard:

Anders hard at work:

More fruit on the ancient apple tree.  We don’t know the variety, but it’s been here for a very long time:

Gaillardia and an English rose (‘L.D. Braithwaite’) in the house border:

Dining room with a fab plant pest poster (thanks Lotte!) that never fails to terrify kids.  (Now retired.):

Our beloved and eternally happy Swedish Vallhund, Maud:

The lake, house courtesy of Anders’ nephews:

Dappled sunlight in the old orchard:

Blue sky, sunshine and apples – Fjordnær at its autumnal best:

The very first snowdrops of the year!

This year we’ve been a tiny bit disloyal to our beloved Chiltern Seeds and ordered from someone else as well – Special Plants.  We’re quite impressed with both the selection and the prices.  Here we go…

Adlumia fungosa – not generally fans of Bleeding Heart-types, but this climber looks perfect for one of our new shady bits:

Anemonopsis macrophylla.  We’ve been lusting after this beauty for years (no exaggeration), and we’ve finally got the right spot for it:

Cephalaria gigantea. A splash of pale yellow and some height for our meadow bed:

Dahlia coccinea. Dahlias are incredibly easy from seed and this one looks like a winner:

Dicentra scandens. Another Bleeding Heart – so much for our dislike…:

Eryngium alpinum ‘Blue Star’.  We love our thistle-y shapes – surprising that we haven’t introduced this before now:

Lobelia siphilitica:

Lobelia tupa.  A bit of a risk hardiness-wise, but we’re going to give it a go:

Nicotiana mutabilis.  Easy, and oh so pretty:

Orlaya grandiflora. One of the prettiest things we grew last year.  Truly the queen of umbellifers:

Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker’s Red’.  Hardy (yay!), and native to Maine – JD’s home state (yay!):

Primula vialii. We’ve really gone all out for primulas this year.  Another one we’ve wanted in the garden for years:

Roemeria hybrida A new one for us.  How gorgeous:

Rudbeckia hirta ‘Cherokee Sunset’.  Bright, brash, a bit OTT – perfect!

Tragopogon crocifolius. Another one for the pots:

Now we’re just waiting for the seeds to arrive…

Happy Gardening!!!