At the moment, there are still a lot of Stinzenplants in bloom. This is the last ‘Calendar’ week of the Stinzenflora season 2018 in the Stinzenflora-monitor. And do you know that a photo can be enlarged by clicking on it.

Flowering: start full peak decreasing
Present: here and there regular massive

Stinzenflora-monitor Calendar 2018 week 19. Scroll horizontally to view all plants. Learn more about a terrain or stinzenplant? Click on the name in the table.

Not all those flowering plants belong to the Stinzenplants as mentioned on our website, but they are often present in this environment and were called ‘Bijgoed’ by Van der Ploeg. Such plants that now thrive are: Cow parsley, Mourning widow, Green Alkanet, Daisies, Wood Dock, Sweetscented bedstraw

and two types of Doronicums: the Leopard’s-bane and the Plantain-leaved Leopard’s Bane.

The flowering Stinzenplants are:

Italian Lords-and-Ladies, Bear’s Garlic, the late flowering variety of the Drooping Star-of-Bethlehem and Star-of-Bethlehem, Double Meadow Saxifrage, while the Bluebells with their beautiful purple color stand out.

At Dekema State: the sporadically present Double Meadow Saxifrage disappears during the day in the sea of ​​Daisies, but when the Daisies close in the evening light, the Double Meadow Saxifrage finally comes into view. It is exactly the other way around with the Star-of-Bethlehem. Although these protrude above the Daisies, the chalices close at night and in less sunny weather. Then they are hardly noticeable in the whole of the flourishing field. With sunshine they open and then take the spotlight while the Daisies fade, as it were. It is striking how Star-of-Bethlehem and the Bluebells are able to emerge above Ground Elder, provided that it does not grow too high.

In Jongemastate Park: Cow parsley is now blooming high and abundant. All spring plants are now completely dominated by this white, attractive beauty. In the Park itself, when you have passed the old gatehouse, many species of plants can be seen in bloom, which give the Park a colourful appearance, such as Doronicums, Solomon’s seal and the Common Bistort, the last flowering of the stinzenplanten.

The Common Bistort is one of the oldest known Stinzenplants and it occurs in one of the oldest known herbal books: The Materia Medica, originally written in Greek by Dioskurides in the first century after Christ.

At Martenastate the Double Meadow Saxifrage is now in full bloom along the avenue with the old truncated Lime trees.

The sites are all different and management also differs per site. In the 19th century, the grass in the beds of the English style Dutch landscape garden was mowed regularly after the first mowing, giving it the character of a lawn. This type of management is currently being applied at Pastorietuin Easterein, Philippusfenne, Martenatuin and on the forecourt of Hackfort Castle. Although all these areas are roughly managed in the same way, there are considerable differences. The time of the first mowing can vary considerably, whether or not you fertilise and whether or not to scarify.

Pastorietuin Easterein currently has the following policy: This week the grass field with Crocuses and Snowdrops was mowed and fertilised for the first time (6-2-20 + 3 MGO). A week earlier, the patches with Winter Akonite were already capped with a brush cutter to allow sufficient light and air to enter the lawn. In previous years, these parts had to be sown again and again. The current approach seems to work.

Our aim is to find a balance between the flowering and dying of the Stinzenplants, where possible gathering and spreading of seeds (Dutch Crocus, Drooping Star-of-Bethlehem and the Snake’s Head Fritillary) but having a nice lawn in June as a characteristic part of the garden that was designed by the Dutch landscape architect Vlaskamp in 1863. Every year this poses a challenge!

The fertiliser that is used is an organic based fertiliser where the numbers indicate the content of the nutrients nitrogen, phosphate, potassium and magnesium respectively. At Martenastate, the site is mowed twice a year and the clippings are removed.

At Stinze Stiens we started mowing in a sinus pattern (inn Dutch) https://www.vlinderstichting.nl/sinusbeheer/  This means that each time about 40% of the terrain is mowed by mowing wavy tracks. In total, for example, mowing can be done six times. The tracks are never the same and there is thus also variation in how often a piece is mown per year (2 to 3 times a year). The idea is that there is always a part cut short, a part with higher vegetation and everything in between. This type of management is good for butterflies and insects as well as for the plants, and possibly also for the birds. For the time being, the idea is to cut 40% in varying wavy patterns from mid-May to mid-October. We have just mowed the first undulating tracks and the result looks quite nice. We are curious about the further experiences.

Next year we will be back to you around mid-February with the Calendar of the Stinzenflora- monitor.

Events*:

The participants in the Stinzenflora-monitor organize various activities during the Stinzenflora season.
The events known are listed below.
‘Open gardens’ with private garden owners are often mentioned shortly before in this calendar and on the websites of the participants. Opening up depends on the flowering of the Stinzenplants and the weather.
For possibilities of (group) visits you can contact the relevant participant IN ADVANCE.
Every estate has its own rules. You are kindly requested to follow those as directed.

Data: see ESTATES

Tourist brochure ‘Stinzenflora in Friesland’: For everyone who wants to go out in the spring, a new handy brochure ‘Stinzenflora in Friesland’ is also available at the tourist centers and affiliated organizations (VVV’s and TIP’s). It was developed in cooperation of the participants in the Stinzenflora-monitor and the tourist organizations Uytland / Destination Noardwest and the regions De Greidhoeke and Noardlike Fryske Wâlden. The folder provides information in Dutch and English and shows which locations are real thriving hotspots in Friesland.

App Stinzenflora (only for Android): The organization Nature2U has independently developed an app (only for Android) with information about Stinzenflora. In this Stinzenflora app all Dutch Stinzenplants and companions are described with country of origin and details. The app is composed with Stinzenplant specialist Heilien Tonckens and nature photographer Wil Leurs, supplemented with some photos of waarneming.nl . The plants are easy to find with flower color and shape or for florists by family classifying. In addition, there are also overviews of the Stinzenflora of the Vecht region and Friesland.
More information via www.nature2U.nl

* Subject to change. Consult always the websites of the participants for the latest information.

• Volgende: Stinzenflora-monitor: Calendar 2019, 9 February online
• Vorige: Stinzenflora-monitor 2018: Calendar week 18