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Hellebores for the garden and the vase

Hellebores are the wonders of the winter garden. They are a combination of delicate and strong. They are elegant but can survive the most horrible weather; freezing rain, snow, hail and wind. Hellebores are easy to grow and are one of the few plants to bloom in winter. The flowers come in a gorgeous variety of muted colours including creamy white, pink, dark red and almost black. There are many…

Discover new dahlia varieties at the dahlia show garden

A dahlia show garden is a great way to discover new dahlia varieties. To promote dahlias, hundreds of different varieties are on show. Some are so new, they don’t even have a name yet. It’s an incredible sight, with so many beautiful varieties! Waltzing Mathilda In September my friend Superdahlia and I visited what we call the Flower Bulb region. I am sure everybody knows about the tulips and…

Favourite dahlia varieties from my cutting garden

One thing I love about dahlias is that there are so many varieties. They come in a dazzling range of colours, sizes, and forms, with enough variety to satisfy everyone’s taste. I love to select a few new dahlia varieties each year to add to my garden. And maybe you do too! If so, read on. In this post, I share some of my favourites that look good in both your garden as well as the vase. I hope…

Favourite dahlias: growing Sweet Nathalie

Dahlia Sweet Nathalie is one of the most beautiful varieties I have ever grown. The healthy plants were covered in pale blush blooms all last season. Long, strong stems make this a great cut flower. Perfect for flower arrangements, they pair beautifully with dahlias Peaches n’ Cream, Cafe au Lait and other pink varieties. If you are looking for a beautiful dahlia to add to your garden, Sweet…

Natural dye Easter eggs with pressed flowers

Decorating eggs for Easter is one of my favourite traditions. This year, I made natural dye Easter eggs with pressed flowers and leaves. These natural dye Easter eggs are fun to make. It’s a process but you still have time before Easter Sunday! All you need are eggs, fruits and vegetables for the dye, and pressed flowers and pressed leaves to decorate the eggs. I used pressed wood anemones for my…

New and inspirational book: The Joy of Dahlias

Dahlias are one of the most versatile flowers and now they are more popular than ever! Do you want to know everything about these beautiful flowers? Then this new and inspirational book is for you: The Joy of Dahlias. Read on to learn more about this new book, or to just enjoy the colourful dahlias.

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Dahlias are easy to grow and it is quite possible to grow great dahlias without using any pesticides, not even organic slug pellets.

Dahlias are easy to grow but you have to be willing to put in the work. After a few years of growing dahlias in my dahlia garden, I am confident enough to say I know how to grow great dahlias. I have grown many different varieties and harvested hundreds of beautiful flowers. And I did this without ever using any pesticides, not even organic slug pellets.

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This year, Easter will be different. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, families will spend Easter at home, maybe even in isolation. It is still really important to stay at home, but that doesn’t mean you can’t decorate your home for Easter. I think we can all use a distraction during lockdown, so I’ve put together a list of easy Easter egg decorating ideas. Hope you find a way to be creative, even…

At this time of year, there isn’t an abundance of flowers outside. But you can bring flowers into your home! A few tulips in a vase make life much more enjoyable when it’s grey outside. I am not a professional florist or floral designer but I love to play with flowers. If flowers make you happy too, join me in this blog post where I show you how to make the most of a bunch of tulips.

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A Year in Flowers: New book by Erin Benzakein

I am a big fan of Erin Benzakein of Floret Flowers. I have been following Floret on Instagram for years and am constantly in awe of the beautiful images taken on the farm. Floret Farm grows hundreds of flower varieties and they all look amazing. I loved Erin’s first book, Cut Flower Garden, and now there is a new book. Cut Flower Gardenwas all about growing flowers. The new book, A Year in…

A family flower farm: spreading the love for flowers

Wouldn’t you like to walk through a field of colourful flowers? Wouldn’t you like to choose and cut as many flowers as you want? Wouldn’t you like to have lunch in the middle of a flower field?

I am such a lucky girl because that is exactly what I did at the family flower farm of Marlies and Linda.

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Dahlia Peaches n' Cream is one of the most productive, most beautiful and best cut flower varieties I am growing this year.

Now that dahlia season is almost over, I like to look at the most beautiful, the most productive and the best cut flower varieties I am growing this year. And dahlia Peaches n’ Cream is definitely one of them! I am so in love with this pretty little dahlia. A gorgeous bloom, and this seasons favourite.

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Dahlia garden review: exciting newcomers

Hooray for Spring!

It has been sunny and bright here in Holland, the cherry trees and magnolias are in full bloom and daffodils are starting to flower in the streets. It’s almost time to start planting my dahlias!

Last week I shared my trusted favourites, dahlia varieties I have been growing for a few years now. Beautiful dahlias I will be growing again this year.

This week I would like to…

Dahlia garden review: trusted favourites

It’s spring here in Holland and that means brighter days and warmer weather. The days slowly get longer which means I can still do some gardening when I get home from work. I love it! It’s wonderful to be outdoors after a day at the office, even if it’s only for half an hour.

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Favourite dahlias: 3 reasons to grow dahlia Labyrinth

Hello there! Dahlia season is in full swing and despite the drought, my dahlia garden is producing lots of flowers. Flowering its heart out, dahlia Labyrinth is stealing the show. With beautiful peach-pink flowers on dark stems, this dahlia is a flower growers dream.

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Botanical Easter eggs DIY

Hello there! How are you? It’s been a while since I last updated my blog. I have been really busy with work and my 4 kids. But I did want to make Easter eggs and share them with you. It’s kind of a tradition of this blog. And to be honest, my Easter egg blog postsare my best read posts. People visit my blog spring, summer and fall to read about my Easter eggs. I don’t know why, but I’m not…

5 easy flower arrangement ideas with dahlias

Hello there! I hope you have been enjoying September. Autumn colours are everywhere, leaves are starting to fall and my dahlia garden is coming to an end. Last year, I had blooms well into October. But this year, September has been wet and cold and dahlias don’t like that. Still, I really enjoyed my dahlia garden. I didn’t have as many flowers as other years, but I did have enough dahlias to play…