Danish gardens

My vacation this year was a trip to Denmark with my mother. We went last year for the first time and liked it so much we went back this year. Denmark is a special place for me because all of my ancestors who weren't born in the US immigrated here from Denmark. My mother's father was an immigrant.

Denmark is a beautiful country. One of the things I love about it is that gardens are everywhere. I thought I'd share some pictures of Danish gardens. It was an unusually dry July for Denmark, but there was still a lot growing.

Hollyhocks are popular, especially, it seems, in the old parts of town. These were in the historic town of  Ærøskøbing.

Also in Ærøskøbing, I saw this, which I really want:

A bean plant with orange flowers! They were so pretty.

Roses are also very popular. We saw so many yards full of rose bushes, and they were almost all covered with roses. Roses aren't my favorite, but they were pretty. These were in the town of Løgstør.

All over the countryside, you see farm stands with fresh produce for sale. While we were there, it was mostly new potatoes, peas and strawberries. This stand was in an old neighborhood close to the canals in Løgstør.

As sad as it is, we never did stop for any fresh produce. Right across the street from this stand, we saw this garden.

We have a friend who lives in Aalborg, so we spent a few days there. One afternoon we walked around downtown. These gorgeous planters were all around the old town square area.

  One evening, we had dinner at our friend's parents' house. They are gardeners. I love their house and yard. This is their sunroom, complete with Poul Henningsen PH5 lamp (a very popular and ridiculously cool Danish modern lamp).

Denmark's climate is not conducive to a lot of the vegetables that we grow, so Danes grow them in greenhouses. Their sunroom had tomatoes:

and cucumbers:

Outside they have beds with strawberries (right) and herbs (left).

To the right of the strawberries, they had two kinds of currants and two kinds of gooseberries. We ate berries straight off the bushes. Their lovely patio:

Another very popular plant is hydrangea. We saw them both in pots and in gardens. Our friend's deck is very typical of what we saw. Lots of people keep potted flowers, especially hydrangeas, on their decks.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this tour of what's growing in Danish gardens.