Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: voorjaar

De Wildenborch is one of the eight castles in and around the village of Vorden. The country estate consists of a castle with a round tower and side wings, a building house with a coach house attached to it and 38 ha. partly landscaped garden and partly park forest. The gardens of ‘De Wildenborch’ - considered being one of the most beautiful in the Netherlands - are open for public a couple of times a year. In spring, the English landscape garden is traditionally opened one weekend to let visitors enjoy the vast fields of snowdrops (and winter aconites). Between the deciduous trees, along the paths, near the water features; these heralds of spring appear everywhere and form a white carpet of flowers in various places. During our visit in 2021, the winter aconites - unlike exactly ten years earlier - were not yet in bloom. But we were able to enjoy thousands, if not millions of snowdrops.

The name 'stinzenplanten' originates from the Frisian word 'stins', which means 'stone'. That refers to the time when only rich people had a house of stone. From the 16th century onwards, adventurers took all kinds of bulbous, tuberous and root plants with them from their travels. They sold these plants to people who could afford them: owners of country estates, castles and mansions. ‘Stinzenplanten’ are very suitable for naturalization. On some estates the house has already disappeared, but the plants still bloom every spring. On the Hackfort estate around the medieval castle have always been many stinzenplanten in the landscape park, dating back from around 1820. It is known that there were large areas of forest anemones and lilies of the valley. But more and more blackberries got the upper hand and many of the original flowers disappeared. In 1981, Hackfort Castle and estate were donated to Natuurmonumenten (Netherlands Natural Heritage Society). In 2009 an inventory of the plants was made and a year later the society commissioned landscape-architect Trudi Woertman to make a design for an additional stinzenflora planting on Hackfort. Nowadays the park around the castle is an imposing eye-catcher with thousands of blooming springtime flowers.

Blooming crocuses in front of the famous hotel ‘Des Indes’ in The Hague.

The 'Prinselijk Begijnhof Ten Wijngaarde’ (Princely Beguinage Ten Wijngaarde) with its white-coloured house fronts and tranquil convent garden was founded in 1245. This little piece of world heritage was once the home of the beguines, emancipated lay-women who nevertheless led a pious and celibate life. It is the only preserved beguinage in the city of Bruges. Nowadays, the Beguinage is inhabited by the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict; the church is still fully functioning. The complex houses a beguinage museum where one can gain insights into what daily life was like in the 17th century. (PiP: entrance gate to the beguinage)

Pictures are taken along a rather steep and winding path and the scenic Paseo Don Juan de Temboury from the Gibralfaro Castle towards the Alcazaba, nearby the city centre of Málaga.

Apeldoorn, Oranjepark - spring is in the air.