Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Five, Four, Three ...



Five

Four

Three

Two

One

Springblooms Are Go!

In a garden near you International Springbloom Rescue is there to save you! Gone are the winter blues the moment springblooms appear in their droves. Smiles light up on many a face, puppies are frolicking, kittens are purring, birds are singing, bees are buzzing and suddenly all is right with our widdle world once more. 
If your world is still devoid of springblooms call International Springbloom Rescue, their mission is to save you from flower deprivation forthwith!

Copyright 2010 Y.E.W. Heuzen

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Potager Fun: Mix and Match

Potagers are fun, anything goes. You can mix vegetables with flowers and herbs and fruit trees and whatever else you care to throw into the pot of potage (soup). Mix and match people, don't be scared, simply mix and match.
Kitchen (victory) gardens have become all the rage lately but not every (would be) gardener is the proud possessor of vast acres. Many have to make do with just a tiny plot of land. Potagers are the right choice if you want to grow your own veg, fruit, flowers and herbs but want your smallish garden/yard to look pretty at the same time. 

A potager is a kitchen garden, an ornamental one. Most people love flowers (ooh pretty!) so do add flowers to your potager. They will not only look good, both in the potager and in a vase, but will also attract loads of insects which is a real bonus. Apart from that you'll save loads of money as you don't have to buy those poisonous bunches of scentless flowers from the shop. 

There are quite a few misconceptions about the potager concept; some people think it's mostly a kitchen garden which it is not as the pretty aspect of it is also of the importance that is very. Some think that potagers are mainly about annuals but again with the no. You can pretty much bung everything in; trees, flowers, bulbs, shrubs, veg and even the kitchen sink if you feel inclined to do so. Another thing not widely understood is that the pretty is not only provided by flowers as vegetables, fruit and herbs can look awfully pretty too. See those black peppers? Gorgeous or what? I rest my case.


So go forth and potager away with gay and colourful abandon. Plant roses next to your garlic, have cabbages together with bulbs. Plunk that kitchen sink smack in the middle of your potager and plant it up with whatever takes your fancy. Be brave, be bold, have fun! Have a potager feast for all your senses, you know you want to.

copyright 2010 Y.E.W. Heuzen

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Get Your Spring Fix Here

At what o'clock is Spring? That's a question I ask myself as soon as the last leaf has fallen from the trees. Spring is my favourite time of the year as it's so full of promises of things to come. Whether those promises will be fulfilled remains to be seen, but often the promise of something good and the anticipation thereof is something to treasure in and of itself.
Spring is late this year; for a long time our gardens were, in sharp contrast to many a winter in decades before, covered with a thick blanket of snow. And quite a few of us (garden bloggers of the world) suffer from a surfeit of snow even now.
Courtesy of many a night of frost and freezingly cold days we've been experiencing lately, the ground is still frozen in the Bliss garden but it hasn't stopped that most magical of moments from appearing in the garden. The moment when from the unprepossessing brown earth suddenly a miracle of flowers erupts with utterly joyful abandon.
Although it's a miracle that has happened time and time again, it never fails to amaze me and fill my heart with utter Bliss. Is there anything more glorious and uplifting than this?
 You'll have to be the sad possessor of a very cold heart indeed not to find joy in the utter sumptuousness that is Spring!
copyright 2010 Y.W. Heuzen