Around the festivities of First of May, in Finland called Vappu, the weather is usually bad.
Perhaps the gods want to keep people away from too wild celebrating and booze drinking
on the streets and in the parks :)) I’ll share today some impressions seen while walking
in the neighbourhood and then some fantastic plants of the garden center Viherpaja.
I shopped only with my eyes, no annuals can be planted yet.
I certainly wish good luck to this guy who tries to get rid of his invasive
Fallopia japonica! I had only a couple of small plants, but it took me
five years to get rid of them without poison.
Kids of the local elementary school had their excercise lesson outdoors.
As you see the birches are not sprouting yet.
The garden center Viherpaja had on sale stunning Mandevilla plants in white and pink.
... and pelargonias and roses with a trunk!
The most exquisite plant was this big Echium webbii, that I have never seen before.
I think that Nova must know it, because it grows on the Canary Islands.
See the link of Wikipedia where you’ll find a beautiful photo of a fully grown plant.
"Echium webbii is endemic to the Canary Islands, where it is restricted to the island of La Palma. The flowers are normally blue and produced in numerous spikes in early summer, but a hybrid is sometimes seen with white or pink flowers. It grows to average height 100 centimetres (39 in), maximum height 150 centimetres (59 in).The plant is not very tolerant of cold, and in the wild is a shrub. It can be grown in gardens in mild areas, but requires good drainage."
I have lost many Japanese maples, but think I have to try this lime one once more!
Bougainvillea is definitely not for me, but stunning it is!
Thank you for all the lovely comments you leave week after week at Friday Bliss.
Hyvää Vappua! - Happy First of May! - Skål to Spring!
❤︎❤︎❤︎
The link is open
FROM FRIDAY 7 AM TILL THE NEXT TUESDAY 4 PM
Helsinki time
Yes, yesterday I also shopped with my eyes. I liked the tulip field.
VastaaPoistaBut you can't take everything with you
It all looks wonderful and so it can go on with the flowers.
Yes, you can really plant out only after the cold Sophie on May 15th.
I wish you a nice weekend and a nice May 1st.
Greetings Eva
Oh, you have the old tradition of cold Sophie on May 15th! The ’old’ folk sayings are wise. Have a great First of May Eva.
PoistaLiebe Riitta,
VastaaPoistaich wünsche Dir auch einen schönen 1. Mai. Normalerweise ist das Wetter hier zum 1. Mai gut, nur dieses Jahr nicht, es ist viel zu kalt.
Ich kenne auch Menschen, die mal Bambus im Garten hatten oder haben. Den wieder zu entfernen ist unheimlich viel Arbeit und dauert wirklich lange. Ich bin froh, dass wir solche Pflanzen nicht im Garten haben.
Deine Bilder sind sehr schön und sehen so frühlingshaft aus und verströmen eine Wärme, die ich gerade in der Natur vermisse.
Ich wünsche Dir ein schönes Wochenende.
Viele liebe Grüße
Wolfgang
Thank you Wolfgang. We have our own Finnish list of dangerous invasive species, Fallopia japonica is one of them. Also the basic Rosa rugosa spreads here dangerously on the coasts. It should be destroyed, not the garden Rugosa hybrids.
PoistaThis Echium webbii not, cause as it’s written it is endemic to La Palma, and normally planned to make a trip to a friend I hope I can do it next year. So over her we have the Echium wildpretii as a endemic plant; but only above in the Teide area. On other areas you can find white ones. I can’t rember to see a blue one in a garden center. They are pretty, like all the other plants you showed us. Nice shopping wiht the eyes, thanks for sharing and hopefully the weather will become better so that you can plant in your garden.
VastaaPoistaWishing you a beautiful weekend and sending greetings and hugs to you
Nova
Thank you for the Echium info Nova. I did not understand that E. is so limited as to its growing places. I thought: Canary Islands are all the same zone 😀 I googled E. wildpretii and it looked gorgeous, too. This garden center has many rare plants, allthough they survive in Finland only in greenhouses. Anyway it was great to see them.
PoistaEnjoy the First of May weekend. Warm greetings, riitta
Before I came her I didn’t know either. There are al lot of plants (like the red tajinaste) which you can find, cause of the vegetation zone, only in one region. Same with animals.
PoistaGuten Morgen Riitta!
VastaaPoistaIch sollte auch mal wieder in ein Gartencenter gehen. Herrlich, was man da wieder für schöne blühende Pflanzen entdeckt.
Mir gefällt die Echium sehr gut!
Und eine Bougainvillea hatte ich einmal in gelb. Allerdings hat sie es nicht lange auf meinem Balkon ausgehalten :-(
Ein schönes Wochenende für dich
und liebe Grüße
Anne
Beautiful plants from the plant center. I always enjoy visiting the plant nursery near my house. Looking forward to more spring photos.
VastaaPoistaHappy First of May Nancy!
PoistaHow nice to admire the new flowers and buds.
VastaaPoistaHave a sunny weekend, Riitta!
It is always fun to admire the plants at a garden center. Skål to the spring and vappu!
PoistaEin Bummel im Gartencenter ist immer interessant.
VastaaPoistaDie blühenden Pflanzen verlocken zum Kauf.
Du hast schöne Sachen entdeckt.
LG. Karin M.
It is lovely indeed, I would love to have all the plants :) warm greetings, riitta
PoistaBeautiful blooms! I saw one similar Bougainvillea plant in pink and was tempted to buy. It was too pricey, I ended up buying 5 other spring flowers for that price.
VastaaPoistaBougainvillea does not tolerate Finnish winters. It needs a suitable place for winter, a cool cellar for example. Seeing a Bougainvillea I always remember my trips to the South.
Poista...you have a delightful collection of garden delights. Fallopia is a disaster!!! Enjoy a beautiful spring weekend.
VastaaPoistaOh ja, ich liebe diese blauen Schönheiten. Auf Madeira wachsen sie üppig am Straßenrand. Wunderbare Bilder hast du gemacht.
VastaaPoistaLG
Magdalena
Such a lovely variety of flowers and colors. I'm surprised bougainvillea grows there! It likes heat and humidity.
VastaaPoistaDear Riitta,
VastaaPoistaI didn't know Fallopia japonica before. That's why I looked for it on the Internet and found out that this plant is one of the problematic, undesirable invasive plants and displaces other plants, but can also be prepared as a vegetable, has therapeutic benefits, is a good bee pasture and serves as a nesting place for songbirds. Once again I see that every thing has two sides. Maybe the neophytes of today are the trees and food plants of the future in times of climate change? But I would much rather have a beautiful specimen of Echium webbii in my garden - the plant looks really fantastic. And you show us many wonderful other flowers!
All the best and happy weekend
Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2021/04/von-blutenwolken-und-kellergassen.html
Beautiful flowers!
VastaaPoistaFlores muito bonitas.
VastaaPoistaUm abraço e bom mês de Maio.
Andarilhar
Dedais de Francisco e Idalisa
Livros-Autografados
Beautiful plants, but annuals and balcony plants can only be planted after May 15. There will be frosts again. The first few days are cold and very rainy. I hope the heat will come and the sun will shine in the sky. Thank you for the beautiful photos!
VastaaPoistaHappy and joyful Sunday.