Bulbalicious

Bulbs are so delicious you could eat them with a spoon. Well, not eat perhaps - although this has been done in the Netherlands in WW2 during the Hunger Winter of 1944 - but certainly plant them with it.
I do, I plant most of the small bulbs like crocus, muscari, fritillaria, some alliums, snowdrops, winter aconites and anemones with a spoon.
I love bulbs, they are such powerhouses, aren't they, and pack quite a punch.
It's amazing to see what gorgeous flowers come from such in essence unprepossessing bulbous lumps.
First you plant the little darlings and after several months of looking at a dull brownish grey garden suddenly WHAMMO you get hit in the solar plexus by wonderfully vibrant colours. They simply sock you in the eye and you take it like a lamb.
Planting scheme Jacqueline van der Kloet

Bulbs, let there be bulbs, zillions of them!
Designed by Jacqueline van der Kloet

Your visual cortex may be in danger of serious overload but hey, you only live once, right?

Regular visitors have sussed by now that yours truly is Dutch so bulbs come naturally to me but they could to you too, you don't have to be Dutch to wallow in bulbs.
Designed by Mother Nature

Mother nature is pretty good with bulbs too as shown in the pic above.
Planting loads and loads of the same bulbs does work but as we do not all have many acres to play with, a smaller amount of bulbs will do too, even though its impact will be slightly less spectacular.
Designed by Jacqueline van der Kloet

You could easily stuff a bed up to the gills with bulbs to create a similar effect as shown in the picture above. Frankly, I think you 're insane if you don't plant at least tens of thousands of bulbs in your garden, provided you have the right climate for it and enough dosh.

But bulbs on a very small scale work too.
Yesterday I bought these hyacinths which are now hiding in a dark cupboard for 6 weeks until they are ready to come out. They were only 80 euro cents each, including the glass. Budget gardening rocks.
Here are some of the bulbs I bought this Autumn and every year it's the same old thing; in Autumn - when I'm planting them - I think that I've bought far too many bulbs and where am I going to put them all, but come next Spring I find that it's Not Nearly Enough and that I must buy more. Much More. Very Much More!
I'm still planting bulbs. I started planting them in October, went diligently on during November and am still at it in December. Contrary to popular belief there isn't really much of a plant-by date on bulbs. As long as the soil is not frozen solid or covered in 6 feet of snow, or both, you can bung them in. Even as late as January or February.
Last July I discovered that I still had some Anemones de Caen to plant, so I did after soaking them in tepid water overnight. And as a result I had Anemones in flower in November and even now there are still some left.
Flowering Anemones in December are weird but wonderful.
It's not often that you have Anemones from your own garden in flower under the miniature Christmas tree.
In the Potager I've been scattering bulbs, casting them like the proverbial bread on the waters and having a ball with it. I've mixed a lot of different bulbs together (tulips, daffodils, muscari, fritillaria uva vulpis, allium roseum) in a big pot and then scattered them about with gay abandon. And I've bunged in an underplanting of blue forget-me-nots and white Aubrieta. Can't wait to see the result next Spring.
The Tea Garden in Weesp, Jacqueline van der Kloet's garden

If it looks anything like this I will be frightfully chuffed, not to mention smug.

copyright 2009 Y.E..W. Heuzen

Autumn Jewels

Autumn has so far been a rather sparkling affair with gorgeous jewels dotted about in the garden.
The beauty of flowers is especially poignant at this time of year when every day could be the last day on which they can display their rich glittering colours of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, amethysts, gold, silver, diamonds, pearls and jade.
Here a colander full of precious jade with the taste of nectar from the grape arbour. I've been munching grapes from early August up till now.
And it's not only the flowers that are clad in such rich tones, my hedge has been magically turned into a sumptuous gobelin of deep copper, burnished gold strewn with emeralds. If you'd like a hedge like this next autumn, and who in his/her right mind wouldn't, plant Fagus sylvatica aka beech.
Of course you can also bedeck your home with these sparkling jewels for your utter and thorough enjoyment. Christmas is still quite a few weeks off, so do yourself a big favour and invest in some jewels for the home, you won't regret it as their return is quite high.
Autumn has been so very mild this year so that I am even now able to decorate my house with glowing jewels from the Bliss garden. It's late November and I still manage to pick many a lovely bunch to gladden my heart.
Even if you have no flowers left to pick, you could decorate to your heart's content and with a carefree heart and hand scatter precious jewels in the kitchen. Immerse yourself in the richness that is Autumn.
But at Bliss the most highly prized jewel of all is Kadootje, a sumptuous affair clad in decadent sable, rich taupe, burnished gold and clotted cream set to purrrrrrrrrrfect music.
Not forgetting those huge sparkling emerald mirrors of her soul.
Today it is exactly 4 years ago that I found this precious jewel in my garden. I caught her red pawed eating the bread crumbs I had put out for the birds. She was so very hungry, you see, something that she is never now although she tries to persuade me often that she is.

For those of you who have inadvertently missed my post about how Kadootje came into in my life, read the full story here A note to the wise: keep a hanky/tissue at the ready.
This precious girl came into my life on my birthday so I christened her Kadootje which means small present in Dutch. And although she was just a small bundle of fur of about 4 months old, she is the biggest and bestest birthday present ever.
And I hope that my own Morse coded precious princes will enrich my life for years to come with that immensely valuable present that is Kadootje.

copyright 2009 Y.E.W. Heuzen

This Momentous GB Bloom Day

Those of you who follow me on Twitter already know how unseasonably clement the weather has been over here these last two months and it has led to a bountiful Garden Bloggers Bloom Day today. Of course I'd love you to share in this bounty and feast your eyes on all that Blissful glory. So dear reader, start feasting:
Never before were there so many blooms in November in the Bliss garden, a very special treat brought to you by the absence of night frosts and cold weather.
Isn't it simply wonderful this plethora of blooms this late in the year? Rest assured that my wheelbarrow runneth over!
And apart from the usual suspects we also have some very unusual guest blooms for your delectation today:
a very pretty yellow Columbine in flower and,
also very surprising, some lovely Anemones de Caen. OK, I confess it, the last one is due to me as I planted those bulbs far too late and as a very happy result I now have pretty Anemones in flower. Being a lazy gardener can be very rewarding so I heartily recommend it.
Those woodland strawberries are still going strong, not as plentiful as they once were but not too shabby for November. It such a luxury to be able to pick a small handful of strawberries from your own garden at this time of year. It feels positively decadent!
Here is a plant that I wholeheartedly would like to recommend to you if you have the right climate for it: a perennial wallflower (Erysimum Bowles Mauve). It started flowering in Spring (no surprises there) but is still going strong now, literally covered in blooms. Absolute Bliss, with bells on!
Enjoying a glorious Bloom Day like today is wonderful but this day is even more special to me than you realise as it is also the day that my mother has turned 80. Hartelijk gefeliciteerd, ma! Happy Birthday Mum!
Here she is in her full blooming glory being serenaded at a dinner/cabaret evening last Sunday in celebration of her birthday. A great evening was had by all!
And that's not all because today is also the day that my darling Maine Coon Vita celebrates her 14th birthday; happy Birthday my sweet gentle Vita, mijn lieve zoeniecoon,
earth mother extraordinaire!
Well, I did mention that my wheelbarrow is running over today as it is such a Momentous Bloom Day, heartfelt by all here at Bliss, Jeeves included who is happily basking in the sun amidst the lashings of blooms.

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day to you all!
copyright 2009 Y.E.W. Heuzen