Rhodotypos scandens

I wanted to begin by saying that this is one of my favorite plants. But then I recalled that I almost always begin with this. When considering it a little bit more, I realized that in fact, almost every and each plant in the garden has something for which I especially love it.

Therefore, this is one of my favorites. Really. I am always happy when I pass by it. It belongs to those rare plants that I bought without any special consideration, just in the heat of passion. It was only twenty centimeters, but already so appealing that I immediately put it in the chart, although at that time I was already over the “large is the garden, there will be some place for it” phase of garden building.

This was about five years ago. By now it grew about one and half meters large. Somewhere on the net it is written that it grows well in dry shady parts. And it is truly so. It is planted in almost complete deep shadow under the walnut tree, in a part which I can only rarely water. In better conditions it is spreading, but here, in dry shady place it behaves well. It is very frost-hardy (Z4). It grows 1-2 meters (in other opinions 2-3) high and the same large. At us it grows on clay soil, but it is reported to cope with any kind of soil.

In the autumn it produces small black berries which decorate it until springtime. If you are looking for a plant which feels well, appears fresh and healthy and grows quickly even in dry shade, you should try it.

Flower carpet

Easter Sunday

“The Sabbath day ended. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices. They were going to apply them to Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, they were on their way to the tomb. It was just after sunrise. 3 They asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb?" Then they looked up and saw that the stone had been rolled away. The stone was very large. They entered the tomb.

As they did, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe. He was sitting on the right side. They were alarmed. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. But he has risen! He is not here! See the place where they had put him. 7 Go! Tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. It will be just as he told you.” (Mk 16, 1-7)

Holy Thursday

Springtime is here!

Those wonderful barberries! 2. Berberis thunbergii 'Aurea'

You can see it in front of the birch in the middle, between the thuya and the rose. At us it grows on a rather shady place. On a sunny place it get much more yellow.

It was one of my best gardening catches. I bought it some years ago in the New Garden nursery as a completely developed plant. On a deeply reduced price, as nobody bought it. But I at once fell in love with it.

Here it is at the left side of the picture, in the middle of the summer. Beautiful, as throughout all the year.

Its form is so architectonic that one can put it even in a Japanese garden, as they often do it indeed. But it also fits well to our more colorful, loose mixed flower bed.

In the autumn it assumes beautiful colors. It also produces berries, but at us unfortuntely quite few. In has a spectacular form also in the winter, here behind the birch to the right.


It is quite frost-hardy (Z4). It grows about one meter hight and one to one and half meter large. People often recommend to plant it on an light soil, but at us every Berberis thunbergii feels better on adobe soil than on sand. However, it cannot stand soils with bad drainage. (This is no problem at us, as all our soils drain water better than necessary.) It loves sunny or partly shady places. It works well in dry places. That is, it is perfect of its kind.

European Spindle - Euonymus europaeus

This is so beautiful that it is almost unbelievable. These berries are its greatest attraction. In the autum you can admire them for weeks. In our region it is a frequent forest bush, but it also occurs in such elegant places like the garden of Beth Chatto.

This is how it looks like a bush. This is a young one planted in 2004, the photo was made in the autumn of 2008. Later it will grow branchy. As you can see from its location, is is amazingly hardy. I have planted it directly to the stock of a huge poplar, on dry, sandy soil which hardly receives any water.

The nursery pages usually describe it as 2-3 meters high and large, while the pages of universities and of environmental protection give a much bigger height, even 4-7-10 meters. It is spreading, but not aggressive. It is extremely frost-hardy: Z4, and some pages even categorize it in Z3. An excellent plant for dry part-shade.

Fruit-Grafting Lady Day

Under your protection we run, holy Parent of God! Don’t despise our entreaty in the time of our distress, but protect us from every danger, you always glorious and blessed Virgin;

our Lady, our Interceder, our Protector, appease your holy Son for us, recommend us to your holy Son, present us to your holy Son! Amen. (Prayer from the 3rd century)

Squirrel

At the end of the winter the squirrels often come up as far as the house.

Yesterday this same squirrel was jumping in our window, but then we could not photograph it. Tamás today managed to take some pictures of it.

This beautiful red one with white belly is my favorite one.

It keeps a Turkish hazelnut in the mouth. Interestingly they prefer it to common nut. But as one can see at its good conditions, in the winter they also eat the nuts they find in the garden.