English Country Garden

Driving home the other day through some winding country lanes near Wye I came across this beautiful little cottage that looked like it was right out of one of the Beatrix Potter stories.

I had my camera with me and asked the owner (who was outside already) if they would mind me taking a few pictures.  They were delighted (nothing like showing off a stunning flower display) and let me snap away.   

Just look at the water pump near the window - it works!

I'm not one for perfectly manicured lawns and regimented flower displays.  I much prefer displays like this which look natural and more like wild flowers.  With the sunshine blazing down the colours just jumped out.

How many do you recognise from the rhyme?

How many gentle flowers grow
In an English country garden?
I'll tell you now of some I know
And those I'll miss I hope you'll pardon
Daffodils, heart's ease and phlox
Meadowsweet and lily stalks
Gentain, lupine and tall hollihocks
Roses, foxgloves, snowdrops, forget-me-nots
In an English country garden

There were plenty of small butterflies and bees (I have a small thing for bees - my bee necklaces are my two favourite necklaces and we used to have lavender outside our front door that was a veritable social hangout for the fuzzy buzzers).

Just look at them.  I can't help but feel happy when I see such beauty.  It's not hard to imagine Benjamin Bunny and Mrs Tiggy-Winkle living happily here on elderflower cordial and honey biscuits.

Tiptoe Through The Tulips - Part 5

Amsterdam was a riot of colour over the weekend.  Flowers packed the markets, hung from window boxes and filled pots outside shops. 

 The famous tulips were everywhere.  Real and wooden. 

Displays of every colour under the sun scattered around the city, in parks and flowerbeds, attached to bikes and on barges.  Tulips are Holland's national flower and every year more than 10,000 people descend to Dam Square for National Tulip Day where giant beds or picking gardens with over 200,000 tulips are created for people to pick their own free flower.

There is even a Tulip Museum in Prinsengracht in the heart of the Old Town. 

It's not just tulips though.

The Dutch love their flowers

The Bloemenmarkt is the world's only floating flower market.  Near Koningsplein and founded in 1862, hut after hut is filled to overflowing with flowers, trees, shrubs, bulbs and seeds, all running along the canal.  The scent is delicate and wraps around you as you move through the stands.

 Blossom in the Museumplein was in full bloom, showering the tourists in pink and white confetti.

 Even the bikes have floral accessories!