Fabulous tulip flight above Bollenstreek, lost in Dutch spring colours 2015

 

Its difficult to (even try to) describe the magnificent flower-glory one could see this year end of April while flying over the Bollenstreek. Luckily for us, tulips and hyacinths were decorating the fields at the same time  in all possible colours. Add a clear blue sky, nice sunshine and a friendly pilot and you have a great spring experience for years to remember. Enjoy the colour flower-power!!!

"Bon Appetit" with the flower parade Bloemencorso 2013!

 

Even if all flowers are delayed here in the Netherlands with 2-3 weeks this spring due to the cold and longw inter the famous and lovely-smelling flower parade started last night in Noordwijkerhout. The topic this year was "Bon appetit" and as every year I was again impressed how created the artists are...enjoy my pictures, they made me smile even if I was freezing while taking them:-)))

 

On the picture below you can see very well that the "banana" is made from daffodils and the monkey from purple hyacinths.

 

Summer on my balcony: green herbs and colourful edible flowers!

 

Even if I don't have a garden, I never stopped loving having green plants around me. So during the warm moths of the year the balcony at home becomes our ("tiny") garden, thanks to the great care&dedication of Nico. Due to its limited size (1 by 3 meters) its of course nothing big, but I am so happy with our yummy selection of green herbs and colourful flowers.

 

We have been growing and enjoying watching following plants&herbs in the past months:

-> rosmarin and basil (for giving the final touch to Italian dishes and salads);
-> 3 types of peppermint, lemon verbena  and camomile for fresh&delicious teas (or ice-teas depending on the weather);
-> marigold and cornflower for their fantastic colours but also for their healing powers ( for wound-cremes or in teas);
-> sky blue borage and yellow& red nasturtium: for their edible blossoms (the first one has a refreshing cucumber flavour, while the yellow/red/orange flowers of the second surprises one after the first honey touch with its peppery aftertaste);
-> and last but not least my absolutely favourite flowers (my great-grandmother was always having some in her garden): the pansies (in Bulgarian "теменужки");

 

And here today I am sharing also some impressions of how I do use this yummy green treasures while cooking.  Personally I do love to add freshly cut mint leaves to my fruit salad (like in the picture above). I have also put on the top for the salad the edible flowers of borage&nasturtium. The blue borage flowers decorate on the next picture as well my home-made tiramisu desserts! The drying herbs (for teas in the coming winter months) are a lovely&aromatic deco at home too... Hope you have enjoyed my balcony-flower-herbs-tour!

Fluffy dandelions in Rijswijk, Holland...

 

Every spring one of the first flowers to greet the warming sun is the yellow dandelion! Funny enough at the end of its stay with us this flower tranforms to a very fluffy white ball...Few days ago I spent some time looking closely to this fluffy plant and took into pictures some of its spectacular details! One may also use its leaves in the salad, they are a bit acid, but mixed with other salad sorts makes a fresh meal;

Bloemencorso 2012, the fantastic flower-parade in Haarlem...

 

For the 65th time the most colourful flower-power event, the Bloemencorso, took place in the Bollenstreek, the flower-bulb-area between Leiden and Amsterdam...This one-weekend-lasting display of fresh flowers respresenting different subjects is always an impressive and charming show to visit and photograph. Despite the chilly and windy weather, the sky was fantastically blue and all participants were parked in the centre of the cute and cozy Dutch town Haarlem the whole last Sunday!

 

The topic this year was communication! the winner was a platform representing colourful parrots:-) My personal favourite was a guy reading newspaper, looking very lazy with one foot in the air...I also loved the mix of creative flower-presentations with beautiful Dutch architecture...and of course this awesome blue sky and warm sunshine!

Flower and other decoration in villages in Lorraine

 

France and the cute and tiny villages there always surprise me and impress me with their lovely floral and other decoration. This blog entry is dedicated to the flower-villages in Lorraine.

Some of the flowers in the gardens are also eatable as the blue flower as a decoration in the glas of fresh pressed tomato juice (last shot)...

Summer flowers and herbs in Black sea resort "St. St. Konstantin and Elena"

While walking around the resort "St Konstantin and Elena" at the Black sea coast I could not stop admire old the wildflowers and herbs.....The white acacia trees, the puple mallow flowers, the honeylike smelling lime-tree, the strong red colour of the poppy flowers...They are all around.

Not a lot of people are aware that the mallow (first picture, also called in de: "Malve", nl: "kaasjeskruid", bg:"камбулка") is a very famous herb, which helps heal heavy caughs.

As for the acacia blossoms, they deliver the juice for the bees and I just got a fresh jar of acacia honey the other day....

Some hotels in the resorts have some creative flower decoration such as the dolphins and the peafowl.