DryStoneGarden

Along with the Piet Oudolf gardens, I saw a lot of other great plantings as I cycled through Holland. Dutch public spaces embrace the exuberance and wildness of plants in a way that is rare to see here in California. These photos are just one example. They’re from a random planting around a playground in Loenen aand de Vecht, a Dutch town that just happened to be on my route. I don’t know anything about this planting except that it’s clearly the product of a designer and culture that loves plants.

The third Oudolf planting I saw was in Rotterdam, near the Erasmus Bridge. Beautiful bridge, with the plantings as a lovely foreground, though I was there a few weeks late to see the garden in its prime. Some of the plants were struggling with the mid-day sun, but afterwards I found out that I was there on the hottest day in the history of the Netherlands, so that’s understandable.

The planting has more of a mediterranean palette than the other two gardens. It has a lot of plants I use such as Nepeta and Teucrium, unlike Vlinderhof which features mostly plants that don’t do well in the Bay Area.

Plants that I use, plus Echinacia; I never plant it, but I would if I could get it to look this. As at Vlinderhof and Singer Laren, it was putting on the biggest show in the garden.

It was my third favorite of the Oudolf gardens I saw, but third favorite Oudolf is still exceptional. A lovely spot.