Or at least a bunny hater, that is. I do not love mosquitoes either, but that's another story.

A year ago, the ground was covered with thick snow, and the hare went and ate the tips of even the tallest of bushes, but left the bases of tree trunks intact, simply because the plants were protected by the snow. This year, there has not been any snow. The ground is bare, and even though it's not even mid March, plants are emerging from the ground.

One would imagine, that the forest is full of green stuff for the hare to eat, but apparently those little beasts think that my yard is some sort of a gourmet buffet for bunnies. One night I even caught the brown european hare "red-handed" eating my cherry tree. I just happened to wake up in the middle of the night, looked out through the window, and there it was. Eating my tree at my front yard.

I tried knocking the window with my fist to call its attention, and yes, the hare noticed me. It raised its face a little and paused munching. Then it realised I was indoors and went back to eating. So I went out on the porch and yelled at it. First it didn't even move. I yelled some more, and it hopped next to the lilac bushes growing by my yard and stayed there. I got really frustrated looking for something to throw at the hare, but couldn't think of anything suitable. I closed the porch door, opened it again, and shouted at the animal: " Go on, go away, I DO see you there!" Well, the hare heard me and decided to move to a quieter location at my neighbour's yard. I guess it finally understood that I would not let it eat in peace.

But what makes me sad, is that the hare has eaten almost all of the trees and bushes I have, except of those few I protected with fencing in the autumn before winter. I thought there would be snow in the winter  - as there usually is -  to protect the smaller plants. Not quite correct. As a result, the hare has eaten my rose seedlings, my crabapple saplings, my azaleas, Clematis, blueberry plants, magnolias, cherry trees, plum trees, Vitis vine, honey berry bushes, you name it.

This is a crabapple sapling that has been completely eaten. The branches have been cut by sharp teeth and the bark has been eaten too. The latter might have happened with some help from a small rodent. 

The hare has eaten even the smaller saplings I still had growing in a pot on my porch. It seems to love all kinds of plant containers as there is bunny poo in every planting box and pot on my porch. 

So today I decided to protect the rest of the saplings that still had something to save, which mostly means short stubs located here and there on my yard. 

Since the plants are pretty small, I bought some narrow fencing material. And as I expect the hare to try and eat the rest of the plants entering the fencing from the top, I tried to make it more difficult by adding some netting I made of a sturdy string. I'm not even sure if that will discourage the hare at all, but I surely hope it will.

Sadly, I think this won't be enough. As the spring plants have started emerging, it will simply shift to eating up all my tulips. That's what happened last year, and I can't think of a way to prevent that from happening again. 

I love lupins! But to be honest, not all of them. Those spindly tall wild lupins with few purple flowers aren't very pretty. But they do have a better side too as their foliage often is superb when compared to garden varieties. They form dense green bushy leaves unlike any of its pretty-bloomed cousins.

There are plenty of different garden varieties. And they almost never come true from seed. That's why most seeds are sold as colour mix seeds. There are dwarf varieties and large varieties. Red, yellow, purple, white and two-tone blooms.

For some reason it's very hard to find the exact colour you'd like to have, so my strategy so far has been to sow lots of seeds, let them all bloom and see what colour they produce. Theoretically I'm supposed to either transplant them according to their colour or just weed those I don't like. But that's just a theory. I just couldn't do it! When I saw them blooming I was so happy with the variety of the colours I just didn't want to interfere with anything by digging them up.

I would prefer having pale pink and pale mauve solid colour blooms. Don't ask me why, because it's just what I once saw somewhere and liked it a lot. But most of my lupins are two-toned. Or even three-toned.

Not even purple lupins are just plain purple. They usually have variety of purplish tones and the more closely you look the prettier they seem.

I have some "plain" pink blooms too. But they all grow scattered apart, and I would need to transplant them to make a nice collection of them. I'm not sure if I'm able to do it next year either. I would have to wait until they bloom and dig them up then. And of course they are of different sizes as well.

I had these red ones year before as well. Some of them died, but after sowing them again, I now have a corner in my garden filled with red lupins. Some are mixed with yellow tones, and some are just of different tones of red. 

2012 I even offered the seeds to my friends. I had one red lupin and it bloomed earlier than any other of my lupins because it was mature when I bought it, while others were sown as seeds. So the seeds should produce red blooms. Last summer I collected some more. So it seems I'm going to have loads of red lupins around...

I have so many favourites it's hard to put any of them on the first place on my favourites list. Poppies are definitely one of those.

This one had a fantastic colours of dark red and royal purple mixed.

Summer 2012 was lovely. I had sown some poppy seeds that were supposed to be mauve but they turned out red and gigantic. They were some sort of opium poppies Papaver somniferum, but I would have liked to call them "giganteum". 

These tulip-like poppies from 2012 were 130 cm tall and most of

them were red. An occasional light lilac flower appeared too.

Well. I wasn't able to repeat this trick. Maybe I watered them too much last year, or maybe they were just sown too tightly and didn't have enough space, but the seeds collected from these produced much smaller plants the following year. Furthermore, I scattered some seeds nearby where I live. It was very sandy soil, and when I went to check on them later in the summer, the result was this:

As you can see, all the common weeds are bigger than the poppies. Now I know that they do grow even in less optimal conditions, but even the greatest of plants remain tiny and pale in poor soil. And yes, this is the exactly same cultivar as in the photo above this one. 

Since these weren't actually mauve as promised, I decided to order some for the summer 2013. And these were successful. I had them growing in a very hot and sunny spot in front of  a window, and the colour of the blooms was so sweet! Don't ask me anything about the cultivar though as I can't remember them any more. 

This is the same flower bed as above, but the timing is a bit different. These are another cultivar of opium poppies, but I don't think it had any special name on it. 

I got all my poppy seeds the same way as other; buying from local seed stores, online shops and on eBay. Most seeds ordered form eBay produced something else than ordered, probably because the were collected from private gardens. Having said that, I must also said that most times the result was worth having in the garden, even if it was unexpected. The seeds purchased from seed stored produced blooms alike in the picture of the seed bag.

Full red opium poppy bloom (Papaver somniferum).

This is a random colour variation among red blooms.

This feathered cultivar is 'Flemish Antique'. 

This is a lovely colour variation amongst the red as well.

These are "black" opium poppies.  

'Black Swan' didn't appear black in 2013 either. 

Instead it's red and purple.

'Black peony' didn't appreciate the rain.

I bought these 'Apple blossom' pink California poppy

seeds from the local hardware store.

And these 'double Shirley' corn poppy seeds were bought

from the same place as well. Quality seeds, as you can see.

They make me hungry because they make me think of 

strawberry sorbet!

If you have read my post about sowing seeds in winter, you might be interested to know, what was the result. Aren't you? ;-)

Well, it has turned out great! Everything sprouted, so I can recommend this method for those seeds that need to rest for a winter or two before sprouting. I had rose seeds, apple and crabapple seeds, various species of magnolias and some more I can't even recall any more, hidden in snow last winter.

Roses and crabapples have sprouted vigorously and have been growing fast too! Here are some of the rose species and cultivars, but unfortunately I have lost the name tags. I later recognised one of them to be a red-leaf rose, and most of them probably are seedlings of Rosa 'Juhannusmorsian' , but I remember sowing various kinds of rose seeds. Since I had no idea what I was growing, I just planted them randomly on the side of the yard. :-P It may be that I will have to dig them up some year if they happen to be some spreading cultivar though. Below you can see Malus purpurea 'Kadetti' seedlings.

Since I was too busy to write a blog last summer, I probably should have a look back at it and refresh some summer memories. After all that is what we all need, isn't it? :-) At least I do. Now that there's cold and monochromatic outdoors, I really miss the gentle weather and all the vibrant colours of summer!

I wasn't sure where to start, so I just decided to start with one of my lovely favourites, Aquilegias! They have at least two common names like granny's bonnet and columbine. Which one you prefer?

A pale pink Aquilegia, probably from Touchwood Aquilegias.

Some of my columbines are known cultivars, but most of them are not. And I love them! I have bought the seeds from seed shops and hobby gardeners, and I have collected the seeds form the plants I have encountered. I have bought some plants and I have transplanted some from my mother's garden.

All the seeds I have sown have been well labeled, but for some reason those labels have a tendency to disappear. And even if there were labels on the ground by the plants, I can't remember the names any more now that I'm looking at the pictures in the middle of the winter. But quite many of my plants have been sent as seeds by Carrie Thomas. You can find her Aquilegia seed list on Touchwood Aquilegias. She has the most impressive collection of cultivars I have ever seen.

Some of the blooms were injured by insects as they were 

among the first plants to emerge from the ground early in 

summer and there wasn't too much to eat for those nasty little creatures.

Double blossom 'Firewheel'.

Semi-clematis type Aquilegia. Some blossoms look funny like this. 

It hasn't decided whether to be traditional or clematis blossomed.

This one has a clear identity; large simple clematis blossomed.

This could be some sort of alpine columbine.

(At least I remember planting some of those in this

flower bed.)

This one looks like the midnight sun.

These funky twirly blossoms are semi-doubles. 

 Both are spurless double clematis flowered cultivars.

'Black Barlow' on the left  and 'Miss M. I. Huish' on the right,

if I recall it right. Could be vice versa though... Both  of them

seem black purple when you see them outdoors, so I brought

them indoors to have a clear distinction between the colours.

This is an unnamed cultivar that comes true from seeds.

I have collected them form my mother's garden, and I was

the one shoo originally gave her the seeds I had received

in a seed swap some years back. Truly lovely pink.

I'm not sure what is this. Could be Miss M.I. Huish.

Another beautiful shade of purplish pink.

I decided to come back to this subject. As a garden lover, I love to experiment with new plants and cultivars. I'm not one of those highly organised people who make a garden plan (even though I did make a plan as that was required) , buy a fixed amount of plants of certain sizes, plant them and then stick to that.

Nope. What I do is that even if I have a plan, I don't necessarily do everything I planned and in stead I leave blanks to fill them later with anything I find interesting. And believe me, I can find plenty of interesting!

Last winter I did a lot of seed shopping. I bought seeds from local stores, from different web shops (which sell very good quality) and then I also decided to give it a try and buy some from eBay as well.

The variety of sellers is vast on eBay. Some are professionals selling quality seeds and some are hobby gardeners selling their own production, which usually are open pollinated seeds resulting anything but the original cultivar. And then there are some selling what ever they can get their hands on even without knowing what it is and then claiming it to be something else.

Here's one case of the latter:

Just compare the seeds on the left to those on the right. 

"Southern Seeds" changed the name of the eBay store as soon as I sent  reclamation, as I noticed what they were doing as soon as I received the seeds. Because I have been growing pants for years now and I really like to collect the seeds too if I can, I'm already familiar with variety of seeds and I usually know what to expect when I'm buying something.

Papaver somniferum seeds definitely were not what they were called. And that was not the only "mistake".

California poppy seeds I ordered didn't resemble California poppy seeds at all. Actually all the seeds they sent looked like corn poppy seeds. Or some premature poppy seeds that wouldn't be able to sprout at all.

When sending my reclamation, I received a pitiful explanation saying that the seller herself hadn't been able to pack the seeds due to an illness and the family members had done it. And that they didn't know the seeds too well and of course they would send new seeds. Which they didn't do, of course, so I was left with the original purchase.

Well, since I had expected something like this to happen when buying from eBay, I didn't get too bothered. I will continue to buy seeds from those sellers that actually sent what they promised, and not buy anything from those sellers that are selling ambiguous seeds.

"Ambiguous" doesn't mean those people who actually are honest and tell you they are selling seeds from their own garden and there's no guarantee the result will resemble the mother plant, as that is to be expected with openly pollinated seeds. That's just exciting! You never know what kind of a new plant you will get, but at least you will know what species it will be.

I actually scattered the seeds sent by "Southern seeds" to a new flower bed I made last summer, and they turned out to be exactly what I had guessed - simple reddish corn poppies. None of the seeds I ordered were what they had promised.

I should be ashamed of myself. And I am. I haven't been writing a thing for such a long time. Well, there are changes in life and adjusting to them apparently takes some time. Nothing bad has happened though, it has all been positive.

One of the new things is that I actually went back to school. No, I'm not a drop out, but I have been unemployed and a stay at home mother for quite a long time now, and where I live doesn't really offer too many job opportunities on my own field. So I started studying something else instead. I'm quite busy nowadays.

But WINTER. First it looked like there's not going to be any of that. It kept raining through Christmas and the temperatures were above zero°. And then came January. First it got only mildly colder, threw  some snow (very little though) and then suddenly the temperature dropped to -20 C°.

Today it's -25 C° (apparently that's -13 F°) and there's barely any snow at all! What this mess is that there's no snow to protect all the sensitive plants. :-(

This is a very depressing image of the Rhododendrons I

planted in summer. If this was a "normal" winter, they would be

totally covered in snow and not a leaf would be visible. But as

you can see, there's barely enough snow to cover the ground.

Many of my more "exotic" (anything that grows well in Southern Sweden is considered exotic to me) survived surprisingly well last winter - thanks to the thick snow cover! I was happy to find out in spring that my magnolias were actually alive! And even the one that had dead branches, started to grow new shoots from the ground as the summer went on.

This winter gives me headache! I'm so afraid to see what will be left after winter. Anyone else having the same experience?

I know lots of people who either hate or fear bugs. No matter what kind of a creature it is, if it has 6 or 8 legs, it must be evil. Anyone who loves gardening has to disagree at least to some degree. If you intend to grow anything edible, you will need some help of honey bees and bumblebees to have some kind of a result.

Bumblebees are big and furry and quite tranquil. There's no need to fear one unless you sit on it and it is forced to defend itself. Bumblebees collect pollen and are good pollinators as their body hair protects them from cold. This enables them to fly in much colder weather than honey bees, and they are among the first insects to fly early in the spring. If you ever encounter them, just admire their work and leave them in peace. No killing here, please!

Bumblebees are threatened by loss of suitable habitats for nesting and for feeding grounds. Willow pollen is the earliest kind of food available for these insects and they need some meadows and other uninhabited places to build a nest, often under the ground. The queen bumblebee starts a nest from zero early in the spring. There are bumblebee nests with a queen and pollen commercially available too, in case you are looking for them to pollinate your garden. In a colder climate (like here where I live) it's often very cold early in the summer when apple trees are in bloom, so bumblebees are my best friends at that time of the year.

A gardener may not be very appreciative towards the cute animals like the deer and the hare. They look so sweet and harmless but eat all the loveliest plants from your garden. Actually they eat any plant at all, lovely or not. Like this sea buckthorn below. Or my apple and plum trees. I would say I hate bunnies, but they're just too cute to be hated. I only wish they had never found their way into my garden.

In summer there are lots of beautiful creatures after the sweet nectar of the flowers. Like this butterfly.

Then there are some that you need to treat with respect unless you're looking for a nasty sting. Wasps aren't necessarily harmful if you just leave them to take care of their own business. They won't mind you if they get used to you being around. They make a grey papery nest in any protected place, like in between the walls or in the garage or under the roof. It might be a good idea to get rid of them, if the nest is in the "wrong" place. 

These insects are carnivores, and they will attack any suitable prey. They are also after sweet treats, so beware if you are having an outdoor gathering with cake, juice or anything sugary at all. When fruits are ready to be picked, you will probably be picking them with wasps that have come to eat the sweet cherries, prunes and apples too. They can also be found in places where meat is cut. They actually come to bite pieces of meat out of a steak if they see one. 

Some people can't tell the difference between a wasp and a honey bee. But look at this wasp below; it's waist is as thin as - well,  a wasp waist - and it's body is glossy. If you could see it's face you would see that it's totally different from a honey bee's face. Also their flying patterns are different. Bees tend to fly from a flower to another, while wasps hover above different places looking for prey and sweets. You will never find lots of bees walking on tree leaves, but you may encounter a swarm of wasps doing that. They are probably licking some sweet liquids left by aphids.

I have found that the smaller solitary wasp species are usually quite tranquil and aren't as aggressive as these bigger ones nesting in colonies. 

This little one below sitting on a corn poppy flower is a solitary wasp.

There are also insects that look like bees or wasps, but are actually flies. Hoverflies or flower flies, to be more accurate. They are totally harmless so there is absolutely no need to fear them, no matter how scary stripes they have. These are actually useful insects! This is a direct quote from Wikipedia: "Many species of hoverfly larvae prey upon pest insects, including aphids and the leafhoppers, which spread some diseases such as curly top. Therefore, they are seen in biocontrol as a natural means of reducing the levels of pests. Gardeners, therefore, will sometimes use companion plants to attract hoverflies. Those reputed to do so include alyssum, Iberis umbellata, statice, buckwheat, chamomile, parsley, and yarrow." 

You can often see hoverflies hovering over a heat spot or some brightly coloured object. They can either stay over a certain place or fly aside a moving object like a bicycle, adjusting their speed very accurately. They are just amazing!

But a gardener needs friends during the long winter as well. Indoor season is made for planning the next summer -  curled up in the corner of a sofa, with some good garden books and magazines and a nice warm fur shawl warming your neck or your legs. Meet my fur shawl Miró below.

I am sure that some fur shawls like him also serve a double purpose as pest control eating mice and other rodents that may harm garden plants. :-)