Franzi and Fleur

Both young horses, who celebrate their third birthday today with extra carrots, moved to our stable in late November for the start of their training.

Out on the paddock in winter

Both learned everything, a young horse has to know with regards to humans to become a safe and reliable partner for riding: standing still, being groomed, trusting the human guidance, staying calm in unknown surroundings, walking across unknown ground, travelling in a trailer etc.

We also practised free jumping. Franzi loves it and has developed good technique and dexterity: 

... and afterwards:  a sandbath for relaxation

Poor Fleur managed to break a hoof one day in March out on the paddock. We don't know how it happened - she was fine when she went out in the morning with the others and came back in the evening limping on three legs. She now has a plaster cast and is confined to her box for the next three months until the x-rays show improvement ... so far, she is very well behaved, keeps up beautifully and patiently, which is not easy for a young horse confined to the stable ...

...waiting to heal...

Franzi is now back on the summer pasture with her new friend Lilli, who is a year older. 

  
There they met Franzi's old friends Lucy and Bellissima: 

Franzi greeting Lucy, jealously watched by angry Lilli, who will come and drive Lucy away ...

"Don't you dare steal my friend!" 

Two days and everything is back to normal, Lilli has become the lead mare of the small group. 

It still amazes me again and again, how patient and friendly, trusting, and trying to please and to do everything right, these young powerful animals turn out to be, if they are treated well, and what great service and joy they are willing to give to their owners and riders. 

The Photographic Garden Diary: The May Garden

The  best time for our garden is May, when most flowers reappear from their underground dormancy and trees and shrubs unfold their leaves. It is a time of awakening and pleasant surprises: which plants will have gained in strength and increased in number ? Which colour combinations will they present,  new and surprising ? No matter how much planning goes into the planting - there will always be unplanned vistas which make gardening so delightful.

Choisya ternata, Syringa persica, Tiarella cordifolia, Choisya "Aztec Pearl" ..

For most of the year rather nondescript and unsightly, in May Viburnum rhytidophyllum makes a show in splendour and full white bloom next to the red maple.

Paeonia mlokosewitschii

We had three flowers this year on this fickle plant which lasted a few days only. When shedding her petals -  as if to mock me - she stretched out her horns, teeth and tongue: 

Among the fading trilliums in white, I found a red version with hanging flowers, easily overlooked and more of a plant collector's specimen as it can only be appraised in a frog position lying flat on the ground .. not even the camera (except a phone) fits underneath...

It is probably Trillium vaseyi,  sweet wake-robin. I don't remember ever having bought  this, so it is probably one of those pleasant surprises and came as a stowaway with the batch of white Trillium grandiflorum, that we planted a few years ago.

We have been trying to naturalize the fine Gladiolus communis;  a few are coming up every year, but on rather weak stems. The bulb may still have to adjust its depth in the ground before it can make larger groups.  

Aquilegia growing through  pretty Syringa persica. This small pleasant lilac grew neglected in a dry rather shady spot where it was not too happy. Paul salvaged it last year and put it in "conversation" between Choisya ternata  and  Choisya "Azted Pearl" which flower at the same time. Now it thrives as if it had never moved.

Combinations in white:

Rodgersia podophylla, variegated Buxus "Elegantissima" and Symphytum grandiflorum beneath

Smilacina racemosa

 A variegated Hosta spec. , Astilbe chinensis "pumila", Primulas and the black Ophiopogon nigrescens

a "study in green": Epimedium, hosta and Matteucia fronds

a large-leaved blueish Hosta  between wild strawberries, Viburnum plicatum to the right and a common cherry laurel in the back

the rarely seen Saxifraga pensylvanica

 gorgeously scented Hesperis matronalis alba in front of red rhododendrons:

and my two favourites conversing in red: Paeonia "Black pirate" and Rose "Etoile d'Hollande"

The Botanical Garden at Pamplemousses, Mauritius

The Sir Seewoosagur Botanical Garden at Pampelmousses on Mauritius is famous for its water lily lakes: the Grand Bassin with the huge-leaved giant water lilies (Victoria amazonica), and the Lotus ponds. 

Several of these large saucer-type leaves make up one plant, which flowers in pink or white from a strong stem in the centre. 

young leaves are heart-shaped before they unfold

the White Lotus pond

the fruit and seeds

a pink lotus flower bud

The rest of the garden is full of various palm trees and huge bamboo forests and offers nice cool strolls in the Mauritian humid heat, when touring the North of the island or visiting the sugar museum close by. 
  

bamboo detail

 palm detail

bamboo forest

Plant of the Month : Trillium

Trillium grandiflorum (Dt.: Waldlillie) is flowering in May. For years I have been trying to cultivate this plant, but it often left me and withered. Firstly, it is difficult to obtain a viable plant and then it often seems disinclined to be moved and replanted. Last year, however, we seem to have found a space it likes : in a lightly shaded position among rhododendrons, and not too dry. I hope it will stay; the three-petaled white flowers and the threesome leaves underneath are quite uncommon in our gardens and a welcome surprise.

The petals acquire a pink blush when they fade.