House & Garden

The sun is rising early enough, so that I get to drive to work with the first glimpse of light on the horizent. Since I'm eastward driving, I get to enjoy and follow every day as the days are getting longer and longer.

While I wander around the garden, I enjoy not only the looks (while I don't really smell - I assume thanks to the chemistry studies at university and therefore don't care as much about for example roses) I enjoy the sounds. From the leaves in the wind to the insects. Starting in March, when the sound of frozen weeds in the wind changes to the humming of wildbees all around the willows.

And now, in May the mellows, in June the Lavendula attracts more and more. 

Gardening and photography hand in hand, standing still, listening and taking a photo of those pollinators...

On the photo you can not only see the different types of blossom more detailed, but the insects as well.

Due to the relatively wet and heavy turf and my philosophy of not fortifying to much only in order to get a plant into the garden rather than choosing suitable ones for the conditions available it seems hard sometimes to get for example spring blossoms. Bulbs are ideally for “lazy”, lets say time efficient, gardening, but sadly the idea of tulips everywhere did not work well, but narcissi did – once planted – every day new anticipation when the tips of the leaves are to be seen in early spring - and again now with the first bright yellow blossoms.

“A feeling of excitement about something positive that is going to happen in the near future” – a bit like anticipation but not quit the same.

If you are going for a walk, have look around in the garden or just keep your eyes open on your every day journeys you will see the first signs of spring. With a few sunny days everything will be green and full of colorful blossoms.

The willow catkins and crocus are the first food source for the bees, nature is on the grid, engine howling and in a few moments it will set of full speed and you won’t catch up until autumn slows it down again.

One day in the garden and not I can eat, for the invitation this afternoon, I can bring the gifts the garden made me (with some work put in of cause) and most my friends (without a garden) in the city enjoy it more than some sweets from the shop. I'm happy, what I can't eat myself, will be enjoyed y them.

One of the first major food sources for bees are often cut and put inside during Easter time to dekorate for example eggs on it. By leaving at least most of them on, you have not only less work, a few colourful spots more in your garden and with more bees, you will get more fruits in autumn.

Today I walked around a took a few photos of flowers in the garden.

"Barbarazweige" (Barbara-branches) are branches of fruit trees, which according to an old custom are cut on 4 December, the liturgical memorial day of St. Barbara in the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Church. They are placed in a vase indoors. Depending on the area and customs cherry, apple, birch, hazelnut, horse chestnut, plum, elderberry, hawthorn or forsythia branches are used. They should bloom until Christmas Eve and decorate the apartment for Christmas. The warm indoor environment appears to the branches as spring.

The custom goes back to a tradition of the Saint Barbara, a branch broke and stuck on her robe on the way to the prison. She put the broken branch into a jar of water, and it bloomed on the very day she suffered martyrdom.

According to regional folklore, the blossoming of the Barbarian branches brings good luck in the coming year. It is sometimes the custom that the young girls assign the name of an admirer to each branch. The branch that flowers first should point to the future groom. Written evidence of the Barbara-branches is known since the 13th century.

Not only as a religious symbol but as a decoration indoors during the wintertime branches are a long-lasting alternative with tradition to expensive cut flowers from foreign countries.