Saturday, March 17, 2012

Plants of Sweden

GBBD is supposed to be flaunting the blooms from your own garden, although the meme owner Carol of Maydreams Gardens did not specify that. This time of the year our dry season already started, many plants are still blooming, but most of the annuals are already turning brown. The grasses specially, already died from so much heat. We still have some blooms in our own garden, but i seem to be already bored with posting mine. They don't die from frost or snow, so they are still there, but i am really bored seeing them again in my post. So, i would rather post blooms from foreign lands. I am sure these might be more familiar with most of you.


I had the opportunity to be in Sweden in June a few years back, which I suppose is advance spring. However, i remember that the temperatures were mostly around 10C. The flowers and plants are luxuriously blooming. Whenever we had the time outdoors, I normally took their photos, while my companions are taking people shots or what we call tourist shots. If they did not voluntarily take my photos, i wouldn't have my photos at all. What i have are all buildings, landscapes, plants and flowers. Please let me know how they are called in your temperate climates. 


not sure what the above tree is, maybe of the apple family, they surround the Scandic hotel grounds

a plum tree blooming profusely on top of bougainvillea hedges near a research facility (thanks to Nick of www.nixpixmix.blogspot.com)

 planter boxes at the Scandic hotel in Svalov, Sweden

 Forget-me-not growing as weeds 

 pansies on public grounds

 found this in a friend's garden, at the back with white hanging flowers is Solomon's Seal or Polygonatum odoratum (Thanks to Karin for the ID). If only i've known that before, i will smell the scent.

tulips seem to be growing as weeds or volunteer plants

various colors of tulips in gardens

mainly red colored tulips, with some darker than red mixtures

the grounds around our Scandic Hotel bloom with those whites and yellows, which look like miniature daisies

To foreigners like me the burgundy colored leaves are amazing. This is in 
our neighborhood in Svalov, Sweden

Everywhere we go, landscapes are profusely carpeted with yellow rapeseed, Brassica napus
I am amazed at the great volume of canola oil which these flowers will produce later on. 
I just don't know how much of these are GMO.

On our way to Stockholm, spring flowers abound in the roadsides. I think this is the best about spring

This Welcome sign, planted to pansies, signals entry to Stockholm.  


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33 comments:

  1. Hi there! Hmmm....these trees with the blossoms are out of my area, but we have similiar blooms here in spring on our Apricot, Mexican Buckeye and Peach trees. I've always wanted to see the tulip bloom in person. Maybe one day I'll get there. There are two shots that are absolutely breathtaking....the rapeseed against the skyline and the grove of tulips. Sweden looks like a garden friendly place to visit. Hope all is well. Kreesh

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    1. I really love that name, when i have a next pet i'll call it that, haha. You can easily tour places, unlike us with difficulty in getting funds. The rapeseed fields with different maturities give wonderful colors and really like amazing carpets. However, i am always in moving vehicles which gave me difficulty in getting nice angles and resolutions. Oh how i wish to go back.

      [yesterday here i saw 7 peace corps who came to our town for diving before they return to the US. They came from different regions/provinces of the country, so each learned a different dialect aside from our main Tagalog or Pilipino language. I asked how their experience was, they said they actually extended their stay because they had lovely experiences. I said, that is good to know!]

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  2. Lovely shots, Andrea. The first tree looks a little like a pear in blossom. And the second shot is definitely not bougainvillea. Looks more like a flowering plum?

    Thank you for participating in Floral Friday Fotos.

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    1. Hi Nick, thanks for that, haha! I now realized the flowers really look different than bougainvillea, how so embarrassing for me that i still get wrong with that. I just remember the leaves on the hedges are bougainvillea, maybe the plum tree is inside the bougainvillea bush. I was there in a hurry and didn't have second thoughts. Thanks again for the correction.

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  3. thanks for this wonderful flower parade :)

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  4. Looks like it was a nice visit! Everytime I see that Soloman's seal I want it so bad.

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    1. Hi Wendy, i don't know what is Soloman's seal! Can you show it to me. thanks.

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  5. Forget-me-nots are friendly weeds, because they hardly put down roots, they just sit on top of the soil. Thanks for taking us on another trip!

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    1. That is my first time to see forget-me-not, which i always read somewhere. Maybe it signifies something for the Europeans, or maybe because of its name it has been widely used as associations in stories.

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  6. Andrea these are beautiful flowers..most are so familiar and yet still so lovely..I love the short red tulips with the shade plants...thx for sharing these with us! Happy belated GBBD!

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    1. Donna, i was not able to post here a very beautiful dark or black tulip. But it was really amazingly elegant and beautiful.

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  7. Thank you for taking us to Sweden. I like the river of red tulips, you rarely see that here because the weather warms up to fast for them. The natural areas are very pretty with the wildflowers too, like you, I think this really is Spring. BTW, I did get your comment on my blog, but could not publish it with your email address. There is a problem with commenting on my WP blog and with me commenting of Blogger blogs too. I am seeing if WP can fix this. I have to comment through Google now.

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    1. Thanks Donna, for telling me it looks like a river of tulips, I didn't get the association. Now i look at it better, with another perspective. I am sorry about the comments and your comments not posting. I hope it will be resolved soonest.

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  8. Sweden is such a gorgeous country! How lucky you were to have visited there!

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    1. Yes EG CameraGirl, i feel so lucky too. I wish my luck continues to more visits or visits to more countries, haha! Thanks for your visit here.

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  9. This is a beautiful place. So nice to have tulips growing wild by the roadside.

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    1. Yes Autumn Belle, i was really stunned by those tulip weeds. And I also saw a black or so dark tulip bordering on black. My photo is just not good to post. It was really so lovely.

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  10. Beautiful pictures. My Grandmother was from Stockholm, Sweden, and I have never been there. I live in tropical Southwest Florida. Our winter orchids are in bloom now, and the bougainvillea is gorgeous also. We have lots of inpatients, gardenias, geraniums, Jasmine, day lillies and Florida roses, along w/ all the ferns and palm trees! Only bulbs that grow are Caladiums and day lillies that I know of. The pictures were beautiful! Is the dark red a japanese maple?

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    1. Hi Anonymous, i wish you have placed your link here so i can return the visit and see your site too. You should go and visit Sweden, even if it shares the same climate as the US, it offers a lot of wonderful differences in plants. Yes, i think the red one is a maple although i dont know if it is Japanese.

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  11. Thanks Andrea... I probably will never get to Sweden so I enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful blooms from there... We do have many of the same flowers here.. Our 'fruit' trees are blooming now --and so pretty.. We have Daffodils, Tulips and Pansies in our yard. My blog tomorrow will feature some of our flowers...

    Thanks for sharing some of Sweden with us.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  12. I have been to Sweden before but I must have been oblivious to the beauties that you have wonderfully highlighted here. They are nature's simple beauties that we sometimes overlooked or failed to appreciate. Thank you for sharing!

    Ben (Gardening Pleasures)

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    1. Thank you so much Ben for the appreciation. I also realized what i missed to take photos of when i reached home, or now when i fondly remember them. My camera that time cannot take most type of conditions, especially inside buildings and museums, where we saw lots of wonderful things.

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  13. Great shots Andrea, I feel the same. I do little more than maintain the garden now that I am not so young. I was feeling a bit of sameness regarding my garden shots. I have not been to Sweden in spite of the fact that it is not so very far from Scotland, was that really a bougainvillea growing outdoors?

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    1. Oh Alistair, that is maybe because of too much cold, maybe you need some vacation in some warmer environments. You are right it is not a bougainvillea, Nick already corrected that. It is a plum on a hedge of bougainvillea and in a hurry i just saw the bougainvillea leaves. haha. take care.

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  14. so many beautiful spring flowers. if i'm not mistaken the first picture is that of a flowering pear tree.

    you've been around the globe.

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    1. Hi Maria, at least my guess is right, it is from the apple family, which includes the pear, apricot, plums, etc. I have some few travels, i admit i am a bit lucky but i havent been to places i really intended to visit. There's still a lot of them. Actually, i envy your privileges in life to have your travels. So the places i can't reach, i just enjoy through yours and some others.

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  15. Dear Andrea,
    you have collected very beautiful spring flowers.
    Solomon's seal is referred to here as the Japanese lily of the valley,
    look here for ...
    http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echtes_Salomonssiegel

    Thank you for your visit to my garden world and best regards, Karin

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    1. Thank you very much Karin for that identification. I am really so glad to know a plant even if it is not growing in our hot climate. Now, i will know that plant wherever i see it, Solomon's Seal or Polygonatum odoratum. My best regards too.

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  16. Beautiful Andrea! Spring blooming trees are my favorite. I always look forward to their fantastic show each Spring. I plant a lot of them in my garden. Early here still, they are just in bud. Yesterday we received 2" of snow. However it will melt quickly. Suppose to reach 70 degrees F by the weekend. I loved all of your lovely pictures!
    Hugs,
    Jann

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  17. Thanks for sharing these beautiful blossoms from Sweden. I'm glad you took the pictures you did. Our tulips are blooming profusely now, but we don't have nearly the number you showed in a couple of your photos. It is unusually warm here for March, but we're enjoying the good weather.

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  18. What a wealth of flowers you captured on your spring trip to Sweden! Beautiful! The rapeseed would not be GMO, as they are "bawal" in Europe. I've been enjoying my break in Manila, too, and have noticed how many flowers are in bloom. The bougainvillea seem to be extra gorgeous this season! But I've not had time or inspiration to photograph them. Glad you did use your camera in Sweden, Andrea.

    [On my mural post" Yes, you are right: the clothes and mop have no special significance. People in China sure like to leave them and the clothes to dry in plain view... I could do an entire mop series... hmmm... :-D

    Thanks for sharing your story of your trip to Fujian, too. Was surprised you mentioned the Friendship Store, though; I haven't seen one of those since the 80s!

    I'll be returning to Wuchuan in a few days and expect blogging to be more sporadic. I have figured out a way to get around the firewall, even if it's not 100% consistent.]

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  19. I've never been to Sweden. Thank you, Andrea, for the beautiful images of the European spring! Such vibrant colors!

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Your comments inspire me to post more, and our conversations make life and gardening more meaningful.

However, Anonymous comments and personal back links give me problems, so i don't publish them. Anonymous + back links = SPAM = DELETE

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