Photos

Adriana from Bratislava sent us some stunning photos of her swamp hibiscus, saying she got them as if they had just fallen into her lap 😆😂. She claims she doesn’t really know how to care for them, but I think the exact opposite! What do you reckon?

We received a wonderful email from a customer in Břeclav who has been growing a Mexican orange blossom from us for six years now. With her permission, we're delighted to share her joy with you:

"This morning, I stepped into my garden, and the fragrance was incredible. I’ve already ordered three more. The first one has been fully pruned twice and always grows back beautifully. It’s a stunning shrub—evergreen and wonderfully fragrant when in bloom, even around the house. It thrives in dry conditions on the southern side, and the chickens enjoy dust bathing in its shade. Thank you so much—I absolutely recommend it. I’m glad I saw it on TV and decided to order it back then. I wish you lots of happy customers, and I doubt these three will be my last—I’m sure I’ll find space for more!"

We're beyond thrilled and can confidently say—Mexican orange blossom is simply amazing! 👍😍

Today on Breakfast with Nova, we talked about early spring plant shopping, and I took the opportunity to make my point. What about? About impulsive shopping for everything that blooms and looks nice, without knowing if the plant has a chance to live longer than just the 2-3 months when it is pretty.

When you shop with us, you have the absolute certainty that EVERYTHING we sell is PERENNIAL. No "consumable goods" to be thrown away shortly after. Our plants can be grown in the garden and some even in containers for a lifetime or at least for many years. I strongly advocate against unnecessarily feeding the producers of "single-use" plants and creating new waste, but rather choosing what has a chance to live long.

I showed plants which make gardens beautiful right now. Naturally, this brought up evergreen shrubs and then hellebores, which are already blooming in gardens and look fantastic. Take a look at them 💚🌸

In today's episode of the Polopatě magazine (last report - around 41:54), we introduced the Mediterranean shrub of the Argenteovariegata Italian buckthorn with variegated leaves and the unique evergreen hybrid Oregon grape, which blooms in the middle of winter.

So, let's see - do you know it? Someone is surely shouting yes! yes! I know it, I have it, and it's beautiful!

But there are still many who have never heard of it, and that's a real shame. This beauty doesn't just belong in collection gardens and for hydrangea lovers. It's a reliable and useful shrub for semi-shaded and moist to wet areas with such attractive leaves that it even puts the fig tree to shame. Don't believe it? Come and see for yourself😁.

Hydrangea quercifolia

This morning, I was woken up by an unexpected sound - my neighbour was mowing the lawn. Seriously. In January. And I don't blame him, because the grass grows even in winter and the lawnmower not only trims the green but also collects fallen leaves. Today's beautiful and sunny weather brought not only gardeners outside. The sidewalks and parks were full of walkers, and it looked like everyone was enjoying the warmer weather after the recent cold spell.

I went out as well, and true to my professional quirks, I was thrilled to have my camera with me at the end of the day. 🤩 Do you like the photo? I love the winter sky; it has the most beautiful and intense colours. I watched it for several minutes until the sun completely disappeared. And I thought I'd show you some more colors. Something from the last season that may either bring back memories or show you some inspiration to look forward to, because I know that as soon as the first rays of the sun tickle you, you'll be planning what and where to plant in the spring 💚🍀🌹 So throw yourselves into the sea of colours and shapes and enjoy! 😇

Czech Television excelled! As opposed to the debacle of the Christmas Eve’s fairy tale as well as the New Year’s Eve “joyful” estrade on Channel One, the lineup of New Year's programmes on Channel Two was a delight one after another. It's probably no surprise, because while commercial production (anywhere) aimed at entertaining at all costs is increasingly heading into dead ends with overdone, exhausted, and shallow topics lie, production aimed at uplifting the mind and spirit has horizons that are perpetually open and inexhaustible, because its themes have depth, content, and relevance in any era.

I want to focus on one program, a fascinating French documentary called Legacy from 2023, directed by the world-renowned creator of Home (2009), the 78-year-old photographer, filmmaker, balloonist and ecologist Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Since 1976, he has lived as a photographer in Kenya, where he observed and documented the life of a lion family and discovered his passion for photography from a hot air balloon. The higher and farther he travelled, the more he learned about the state of our Earth and how people treat it. His work went so far that, after he returned to France, in 1994 he launched a study on the state of the Earth, sponsored by UNESCO, showing how far we have come in its devastation in less than 100 years. In 2005, he founded the GoodPlanet organization, which aims to truthfully and comprehensively inform about the importance of reducing greenhouse gases and the impact of current energy policies on the ecosystem.