The Garden of a Princess, Prinses Wilhelmina

 

In her wonderful autobiography "Eeenzam Maar Niet Alleen" (which I would translate as "Lonely but Not Alone") Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands, ruling from 1898 - 1948, describes the little garden she had as a child. (Rough translation by me - from Nederlands to English - a bit daring as both are not my mother tongue :-) 

"Also for my little garden - I had a small garden of my own - he ordered (Wilhelmina speaks of the Head-Gardener Kraaijenbrink) all flowering plants, among others a whole planting of miniature roses (Perle d'Or) along the path that led there. Father was interested also in the hothouses and glasshouses; he gave Mother many beautiful foreign plants of many sorts and origin. 

Mother made sure that I cared for flowers in father's room throughout the whole year. First pluck, then despatch, that was my task. He was always so glad with them! Of course mother got her due too."     

(The text in Nederland: "Ook voor mijn tuintje - ik had een eigen tuintje - bestelde hij (tuinbaas Kraaijenbrink) alle bloeiende planten, onder andere een hele beplanting van dwergroosjes (Perle d'Or) langs het pad daar doorhen. Ook de kassen en kasplanten hadden vaders belangstelling; hij schonk moeder vele mooie uitheemse planten van allerlei soort en herkomst. 

Moeder droeg er zorg voor dat ik het hele jaar door vaders kamer van bloemen voorzag. Eerst plukken en dan schikken, dat was mijn taak. Wat was hij er altijd blij mee! Natuurlijk kreeg moeder ook haar deel.") 

Did you have a garden bed of your own when you were a child? Did you like to help in the garden? 

 

Light in February

 

"If Candlemas Day be fair & bright /  Winter will have another fight / But if Candlemas Day be clouds & rain / Winter is gone & and will not come again"     quotes Edith Holden an old English saying. 

Well, well, well - these days we are almost drowning in rain! Yet I am not convinced that it was all we saw of winter, though I would be glad: the Schneekarte hangs on my peg (a card that shows which person has to do the snow shovelling - here in Bavaria we have no janitor, and I could not convince my flat neighbours to spend money on a person who will clear away the snow...) 

On the table of my balcony you see dwarf iris (they smell so lovely), first snow drops, muscari "Blue Magic" (which my computer stubbornly tries to change into "Mascara").  

In February we see that the days get longer and light comes back. The Celtic feast of Brigid celebrates the light - Brigid is the Goddess of Light, bright, radiant and sparkling.  

In a book I found the proposal to contemplate a typical February question: 

'What New wants to grow? What needs light, love and caring?' - good questions not only for the gardeners among us, I think.