Flowers From Abroad….
I absolutely love to travel and one of my favorite destinations is Europe. Unfortunately, I have not been able to visit in recent years, but my daughter and her husband were able to travel there this summer and visited three different countries – France, Germany and Italy.
Love to travel
When they returned, I couldn’t wait to hear about their adventures and view their photos. I was particularly touched by the fact that my daughter took the time to take some pictures of some of the beautiful flowering plants they saw in Germany.
I just love window boxes….don’t you?
The reason it meant a lot to me is that my oldest daughter is not particularly into gardening – but that could be because she lives in an apartment and has no space for gardening 😉 So, the fact that she took the time to take photos for me to share with me meant a lot.
I do not know what all of these flowering plants are and would love some help with identifying some of them 🙂
Geraniums, Verbena and Chamomile? Don’t you love the stone planter?
Germany has a special place in my heart because years ago, my grandparents were transferred there for work when I was young. As a result, I spent two summers in Germany as a child along with my parents and siblings.
We spent our time in Frankfurt where my grandparents lived. I remember the large field of strawberries that were grown in the back garden and the struggle keeping the rabbits away. But mostly, I remember how delicious the strawberries tasted.
Lobelia I grow this beautiful annual in the winter months.
A couple of times a week, a local farmer would drive up our street and open up his van which contained a plentiful harvest of all sorts of fruit and vegetables. Wouldn’t it be great if the farmer delivered produce straight from the farm nowadays?
Okay, I just love this photo of little garden gnomes.
I find it interesting how certain smells can bring a crystal clear memory to my mind. To this day, the smell of bus exhaust reminds me of a cobblestone street in downtown Frankfurt.
These were my daughter’s favorite flower that she saw. Any ideas what type of flower this is?
On my kitchen wall is the beautiful cuckoo clock that my grandparents brought back from Germany. Growing up, we loved hearing it cuckoo on the hour and dancing to the music that played afterward as the tiny figurines twirled in a circle.
Isn’t this a beautiful flower? Any ideas what it is?
Our cuckoo clock has not worked for many years and I keep meaning to get it fixed so that my kids can enjoy it as I did as a child.
Beautiful red roses.
Both my husband and I have some German ancestry and I hope to be able to visit there again and experience the beauty that Germany has to offer.
Are there any places that have a special place in your heart for, or that you yearn to visit someday?
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
Dear Noelle, How delightful that your daughter's recent trip to Europe should bring back so many happy memories for you of time spent, as a child, in Germany. It is indeed a wonderful country and I am very fortunate to have German friends and to have spent time with them at their home near Cologne as well as visiting many other places. Bonn, the capital of the former Federal Republic, is a delight but, to my shamme, I have yet to be in Berlin.
Often when travelling by bus from London to Budapest we stop in Frankfurt.
It was so nice of your daughter, to take photos of the flowers, on her trip.
We lived in Germany, when my husband was stationed there….OMG…40 years ago! I do remember the flowers. Lots of window boxes, in our area.
Thanks for sharing the photos and memories.
~~Linda…
Beautiful shots. Love to see more of Europe.
Noelle ~ How wonderful for your daughter and her DH to be able to go on this trip. The memories will last and last. She took some great photos too.
We went to Europe when DH was in the US Navy 1969-1973. We lived in Spain, and visited other countries while there, plus when he got out we toured 9 countries or so for 60 days with back packs, cameras, canteens, Eurail passes and guidebooks. We loved it all. Europe will always hold a special place in our hearts. So much beauty, so much history.
FlowerLady
Beautiful flowers! I believe the yellow one is a begonia…it looks just lke one I have blooming right now.
Noelle, how nice of your dayghter to think of you when she was travelling. Germany is on my list of countries to visit, (it is a huge list), but my heart still belongs to England.
Lovely flowers Noelle, and so sweet of your daughter to take photos of them for you. I agree with Millie, that yellow flower looks very begonia-like to me. Not sure about the others though.
I bet they had a great trip full of many memories. That was really sweet of your daughter to take pictures of flowers for you.
A friend and I backpacked around Europe when I was 20 (a loooong time ago) and I would love to go again now with my family. We went during fall so not a whole lot of flowers were blooming, but I do remember Salzburg, Austria being one of my very favorite places and would love to go there again one day. The scenery was amazing.
Very lovely photos-isn't Western Europe great place to visit in summer? Yes, the food in Germany is so good because of all the high quality produce. Hope you get to return in the near future.
That was very sweet of your daughter brought all those beautiful flower photos for you especially she is not really in gardening 🙂 I love those stone planters! I saw some gorgeous stone planters in China also, and I told my husband that I really want to bring one home if it is not that super heavy!
What an awesome post…i really enjoyed this..SUPER BEAUTFIUL!
yay..that was fun…such gorgeous blooms..and yes that windowbox is charming!
Kiki~
Noelle, what a warm post. I found a smile on my face all while I read it. I too have fond memories of spending time with my grandparents and the different ways ordinary things were done. Even though your daughter was faraway you were in her heart.
Hi Noelle. What lovely pictures. The statues in the garden are so wonderful. So is the long planter with the reds, blues and whites. I have always wanted to go to Scotland and Ireland. I think because that our ancestors came from there.Your daughter is such a pretty girl.
What a thoughtful gift your daughter gave you…all those lovely flowers in Germany. I've never been to Europe, but it's a dream to wander about the UK, France, Italy, and Germany. The last photo could illustrate a fairy tale, it's so idylic with the green countryside in the foreground.
What beautiful images!! The flower boxes are gorgeous and the little gnome family is so much fun! 🙂
My special place is Ireland. Honestly, I think I could live there in a heartbeat. It's such a lovely area. Though after viewing these photos I think a trip to Germany is in order. This was a great post. I really have the travel bug right now…
Oh these flowers are amazing. I, too, unable to recognize the unknown ones. I love seeing new flowers. Window boxes looking great too.
Your daughter took some gorgeous photos. Thanks for sharing them with us. I absolutely love the window boxes.
My list of places I want to visit: All of the British Isles, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Alaska, and New Zealand. And many more!
Its so lovely to experience the flora of Germany – something that I will never thought of seeing from a gardeners point of view.
I like the window planter box – more than ever – they beautiful ivy growing gracefully on the roofside.
Such gorgeous flowers there in Germany, did you find out what the dark pink ruffly one is? Gorgeous! I long to see Italy some day myself. And I wanted to let you know how great it is to see Kai walking again!
Thank you to you and your daughter for sharing these photos, Noelle! I spent a few months in Germany while in college, and this brought back memories. And bus exhaust reminds me of those days, too–isn't that funny? The garden with the statuary is lovely. A funny story–my parents have visited northern Germany twice to see distant relatives. The first time my Dad "smuggled" some Edelweiss in his luggage, a totally uncharacteristic act for my rule-following Dad. But it promptly died when he planted it, which he saw as a punishment for his "crime":)
Hello Everyone,
Thank you so much for your comments.
Curbstone and Millie, thank you for helping with the yellow flower id. Now, I just need to figure out what the pink flower is.
Rose, I love your story. I haven't had the courage to smuggle a plant home, although I have been tempted 😉
Noelle I've been on a break away so I'm only catching up on posts and not sure if you've been told what the plants are but from the photos the pink one looks like a surfinia -which is a trailing annual a bit like a double petunia. The orange/yellow one looks like a flower from a begonia corm. 🙂 Rosie
Sweet of her to take photos and share… beauty everywhere.