villi niitty winter edition 2009

villi niitty edition four winter ‘09/10

Vintage Christmas

Jardin Plume Best gifts for garden lovers W

oodland haven

Perfect stocking filler!

new!

Gorgeous St Jude's cards & notebooks!

Printed on 100% recycled paper, the designs feature the work of Angie Lewin and Jonny Hannah - in a range of A5 and 210mm square notebooks/ sketchbooks.

Prices starts from 3,20 eur-10 eur

Welcome to the winter issue of villi niitty magazine!

It seems that winter is coming and going, the days are so short, you barely have time to get some wood for the fire while it´s still daylight. But no need to despair, we still have Christmas and other winter parties to cheer us up!

The shop is brimming with beautiful vintage style decorations and new stuff in the shop has arrived!

Gorgeous retro notebooks from St Jude’s, take a look here. A neew seed catalogue is in the making and comes out in january, until then...

Have a very merry christmas and a happy new year!

Else & Vesa Leivo

P.S. For some winter inspiration turn to page 10 for a feature on french masterpiece, Jardin Plume!

CONTENTS 5 vintage christmas 7 gifts for gardeners 5

-need some ideas?

10 jardin plume -french garden poetry

16 woodland haven 10 ON THE COVER: Cornus alba `Sibirica´

Published by the staff of

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villi niitty

Copyright 2009-2010 All rights reserved

Vintage Christmas c e D

ng i t ora

s a e id

4,50 5

French lantern 49,50 eur

3,90 6

2,85

5,50

gifts for gardeners need some ideas?

Charming gardening notebook from St Jude’s. 96 lined pages of eco-friendly paper.

10 eur

Green jute twine on vintage spool with scissors. Great for tying bouquets, wrapping presents and of course in the garden!

Also available in red and natural.

19,50 8,90 7

21,50 eur Practical apron in a lovely quality of olive green linen.

Handmade in Finland

De Wit tools are beautiful, practical and made to last for generations. The strong hardwood handles are crafted of sturdy European Ash. The forged boron steel of these tools is sharp, durable, and incredibly strong: it will not bend under normal use. Lifetime guarantee.

Five tine cultivator 19,50 eur

Relaxing bath tea with organic herbs and flowers. 10 eur/3 bags

79,-

8

Tulppaanien lumo 20-28.3 2010

Astu sisään mullalta tuoksuvaan kasvihuoneeseen missä kevätsipulit kukoistavat. Tänä vuonna laajempi näyttely.

Tervetuloa nauttimaan!

Kaisaniemen kasvitieteellinen puutarha, Helsinki

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Jardin Plume - French joie de vivre in a garden full of plant poetry I can’t hide it, my expectations are high when we arrive in the small Normandy village of Auzouville-surRy. The sky is full of wind and dramatic clouds gather as we see the little sign that tells us we are on the right way to Jardin Plume.

Another turn and we take a first peek through the beech hedging.

Only strong plants like geraniums, astrantia and eupatorium can survive and weave through the meadowy grass. In spring the poet´s narcissus push through the cold wet ground. Over the years the couple has enlarged the gardens, step-bystep, with the help of only one gardener.

Sylvie and Patrick Quibel moved here in 1996, then a traditional farm with orchards. The first thing they set out to do was to design the layout for the neatly mowed alleys in the orchard. Forming a grid pattern the tall grasses is cut once a year.

You enter the gardens through the nursery, packed with interesting perennials and showy grasses. Then follows a set of different areas; The South garden, Jardin Plume, The Orchard, The Autumn garden, The Spring garden, The Vegetable

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garden and The Woodland. All with their own strong sense of place.

A naturalistic approach permeates the gardens where self-seeding plants are allowed to wander and find their own places creating essential links throughout the spaces.

Suddenly the clouds disperse , the last rays of sun appear and backlit the whole scene that seems to be glowing. The combination of late flowering perennials and grasses are simply stunning, my expectations are all fulfilled.. 

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The Autumn garden glows softly in the sun, overowing with mischantus, verbena and asters.

Late bloomers Aster `Little Carlow´ Veronicastrum virginianum`Album´ Anemone hybrida `Whirlwind´ Persicaria amplexicaulis Meconopsis cambrica

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Favourite grasses Agrostis tenuis, Panicum virgatum `Squaw´ Miscanthus sinensis `Flamingo´, Miscanthus sinensis `Silberfeder´, Mischantus nepalensis, Calamagrostis acutiflora ´Karl Foerster´, Stipa tenuifolia and Stipa arundinacea.

Patrick busy in the garden.

Visit Jardin Plume open from 3 april 31 october 2010, Situated 20 km east of Rouen.

Sylvie & Patrick Quibel 76116 AUZOUVILLE sur Ry -FRANCE

www.lejardinplume.com 15

Create

haven...

a woodland

Seed heads of Meadow rue, Thalictrum rochebrunianum

Teasel, m fullonu s u c a s ip

D

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It´s easy to create your own woodland, and even if you only have a small garden you can do a mini-version. Essential for a succesful start is a good leafmould, no need to rake up all those leaves in autumn... Leave log piles or decaying branches to provide hibernating places for beneficial insects. Winter seedheads, such as teasels, are left for the birds which help control pest insects in return.

Choose plants that thrive in the conditions you´ve got. Ideally plants that like the dappling shade beneath the trees and bushes. Spring flowering begins with snowdrops and hellebores.

Then when the warmth starts to return and you can even take of your jacket and enjoy the spring sun in a sheltered spot the woodland really comes alive with the delicate colours of Brunnera macrophylla, Geraniums and the nodding heads of Thalictrum rochebrunianum.

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