Hello Again! Welcome to Vanha Talo Suomi. Thanks for checking in to see what we’re up to.

The seasonal temperatures have been a bit above normal and we’ve had plenty of rainfall which has helped to get the gardens started.  Things have sure improved in the flower department around here since we arrived last May!

We were fortunate to have so many small spring bulbs already present, mostly they just needed to be relocated to better places. I’ve lost count of how many we ended up with but it wouldn’t be far off to say 1000 crocus, snowdrops and other little gems were safely moved over the last year into several beds. There are still some scattered in the lawn!  Daffodils were also quite plentiful and I concentrated them into a few growing places.  But already they are almost done blooming here after putting on a great show of color for the last month.

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Now the tulips are in full swing! I should have planted that whole load last fall in only one or two places instead of dividing them between so many beds. The impact would have been dramatic. As it is, there is a lovely range of color and style decorating small areas around the house. Other than the plant stock we purchased recently, all the other perennials are still in the earth or barely poking up through the soil.  It will be a few more weeks before they really start taking off. I do have a couple poppies showing growth for huge blooms! Can’t wait.

  These are lovely and sit in front of the house! 🙂 Lovely color – bold!.

The plum and cheery trees are in flower, both with these white blossoms.

I have a garden helper! She follows me around the yard, preferring to lay smack dab in the dirt if she has any say in the matter.

Pekka hauled and I raked 3 truck loads of dirt back into the yard during the last month. We have a fourth load waiting to be hauled out to fill in the remaining low spots. Eventually the grading will be something like “gentle rolling” as the dips and hills are not completely gone, just more subtle now.

Here’s a shot of the new tree we planted with the leaves finally out. It’s an Acer platanoides ‘Faassen´s Black.  Info

After we got those 3 loads of soil hauled and raked, we decided to fire up the wood chipper that Pekka bought from GlansPower. We had really large piles of sticks in a number of places around the yard and we hoped this chipper would make a big difference in turning them into something useful: Mulch!  Two large mounds of sticks have already been turned into chips and were spread around the bases of the many berry bushes out back.  While we were chipping away we went through a large amount of cherry bark… it smelled heavenly. I can tell you it smells great, not at all like Rowan which is just rank. 😀

The last portions of soffit and fascia were finally installed, then the window and door framing were started on the last few areas needing trim. Still a couple windows to finish. The roof ladders are being installed by a guy I found in the Lohja town paper(Ykkös Lohja)  Really looking forward to having another body working on this old house. Hopefully he’s got a few other skills since we still have a patio to build and a back door stair to construct!

All in all we’ve been busy as ever outside. My two large beds were planted with the plant stock I ordered from catalog. It was helpful having my planting charts!! With so many plants to get in the ground it was exhausting at times. I almost got a bit overwhelmed and was considering just tucking the items in anywhere just to get them in the dirt…. but didn’t have to resort to drastic measures and with some extra patience I managed to get things in the proper places. Now all we have to do is wait and see what grows!

Hopefully the next few weeks will bring warming weather to our area and get these plants really growing. 🙂

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Pekka and I are traveling to Ireland late July to see some wonderful gardens there and to tour and hike about. Looking forward to a new adventure!

Thanks for your visit! Have a great day and until next time ❤