Spring, isn\'t this a wonderful time ?    and...
 

...in the back of the garden, competing for the highest top !

Wandering between mists and seasons...
a wonderful place !

There\'s so many things in life that can make a person happy.
Who also owns a garden can call himself a lucky man.
You can talk about it, write about it, but most of all experience it.
That hasn\'t always been the case for me.
Although...in the very beginning, when we only had a piece of land
and not even a house on it, I already did feel an itch.

I suppose it\'s in the genes. I remember my great-grandfather\'s
garden, his love for my grandmother\'s flowers, my parents,
who also loved their garden very much..
But also my husband turned out to be a gardener in the bud.

I\'ve always loved nature, but ??????; know ????? and especially
actively working it, that was something different.
When we got married we got so many beautiful plants and flowers
that we didn\'t even have enough windowsilks.
Nevertheless this was the beginning of an encounter
and exploration journey that is still going on...
 

Spring 2003, the American oak awakes,
the acorn was planted by my son, when he was still a toddler

The piece of land we had bought was a lovely spot, even back
then, with old, bent appletrees. A shame several of them had to
be axed when we were gonna build our residence here.
Some have kept us company on our 35-year journey.

Once in a while they even surprise themselves with their strength
to live when in the spring blossoms appear on their tired old stem.
They didn\'t even expect that themselves and to be quite frank,
neither did we.


 

Pear tree, at least 70 years old, still blooms every spring

We have learned much more.... \"roses\",
for me a late but true discovery and a new love.
How is it that one day a person starts looking at things so
differently ? Is it because they touch you ?

It can happen between people too ! Suddenly one looks t
hrough the eyes of love and everything becomes
much clearer and purer, real ?????, the blue sky, the clouds,
infinity, fellow-man, God...

roses - Claire Matin





and New Dawn




Clematis-Montana - Mayleen against the wall

and also hanging-baskets !

Reaping the benefits from a trip to \"garden country\" England.
And even though we don\'t call them hanging baskets here, like
their brothers and sisters across the Channel.
Does that sound pretentious... alright, \"almost\" as good then.
 

copper coloured hanging begonia

and herbal bouquet with dill, thyme, mint and geranium

The waterparty, the buzzing of the bees and bumble bees,
visiting and pollinating their favorite plants, the birds...industrious,
combative, making music. Butterflies fluttering around a sedum
and butterflybush, our frogs, a late hedgehog and even
a lost squirrel, it\'s all part of the scene.
Thank you, thank you...for all these presents and joybringers.

Our little pond - no matter how small - full of life with frogs and salamanders,
and on the plants dragonflies, bumble bees and bees...

As you can see, one is never too old to learn...one can never enjoy
a garden too much or be grateful for it as a gift, where one can work,
live and spend time with other lovely people.
I have been blessed with that luck and it makes me very happy.

Winter - february 1999

Addendum to August 2, 2003

Just got back home after spending a few days in the Cotswolds.
Can\'t but admit in all honesty I still got a lot to learn about hanging baskets. Magnificent baskets against pictureque houses !
All I saw was gold, except for the rain. But that\'s what makes
them live and grow.

Got some new ideas for next year !

 How it started,


February 1999 still brought us real winter days, as was the case
this year, in 2004. Because of the almost Toscany skies we were able
to make many beautiful photos. The poetic landscapes gave me the inspiration to bundle all the photos related to my garden. That was
quite a job, considering we\'re talking about a 35-year timespan here.
My mother, who was living in at the time, was my biggest fan.
She also loved nature very much and her amazement was much more than just admiration. She had kept the receptiveness of a child.
That made her so special, beautiful and good.
I think back with gratitude about those beautiful times and all the
good advice she gave me.

The beginning is the hardest part...

The time when our children were playing in the garden has long
passed. Slowly it shaped into an ornamental garden, still keeping the
old structures. There\'s trees, a shed, an old swing (in the meantime covered in plants), reminding us of the happy moments and years we spent there together. More time for gardening resulted in the fact that we developed new waterparties and borders and especially got more acquainted with taking care of roses. We started visiting open gardens,
at home and abroad. Besides the wealth of knowledge we gathered
and the beauty that touched us, we also always enjoyed the charm
and friend-liness our fellow-gardeners welcomed us with.

Through our webpage, we\'d love to let you explore our garden,
very modestly, because that\'s what it is.

                                              Welcome.

 

Winter - February 1999





Spring - 2002





Summer - 2003





april 2004






June 2005




Spring 2006

Wandering between mists and seasons

renewed site
the garden of Leo and Ria

" A happy man is a piece of heaven in your home."
After Phil Bosmans

A sunny morning with lots of colour - july 2004


Mists and seasons in the garden and in nature

Leo and Ria's garden

Photos and webdesign by Ria

Grim outside, so it's even cozier inside. Winter 1999. Time to pause and reflect,
to be creative in the house. Together we watched the many photos of years gone
by. That's when I got the idea to make our own gardenbook.
We have been the proud owners of our garden for 35 years now. I wanted to
document the fact that many things had changed in there over the years.
That's how I started digging in our photoalbums and picking my family's and my
own brain. This led to a discussion once in a while. Usually old photos provided
the answer. Our garden grew according to our needs and our family situation.
But it has always been a source of pleasure. It was and still is a familygarden as
well as a living space, with trees and plants, borders and roses. But there's also
a herb- and little vegetable garden and some water-parties. Something for
everybody... Photos were collected, dates checked. Captions were written and everything was gathered. I was urged to send a story to a gardeningmagazine,
which published part of it. Later on, the magazine's webpage proved to be an
outlet for more pictures and stories.
Now we have reached the point where we can make our own website.
Something I will do with great pleasure and enthusiasm. Enjoy reading and
watching it.

This is what I wrote on my first webpage in the Spring of 2003.
In the meantime I am using new software, hoping that my webpage will
become even better and more accessible. - January 2004 - Ria