The prospects for the weekend and the days after are again excellent. Many correspondents report that this year both the Crocuses and the Snowdrops do exceptionally well.

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

Stinzenflora-monitor Calendar 2019 week 8. Scroll horizontally to view all plants. Learn more about a terrain or stinzenplant? Click on the name in the table.

In Park Jongemastate ‘thousands of Snowdrops bloom abundantly and the park colours white. A variety of species can be observed: Snowdrops with yellow “heads”, Snowdrops with double-leaved flowers and Snowdrops with wider leaves. Between them the Winter yellow Aconites and the “Croocjes” for lilac and purple accents. The Snowflakes are now in full bloom,’ the correspondent reports.

From other parts of the Netherlands these messages also come, such as from our Hackfort correspondent in Vorden and Dekema State.

Possibly the abundant blooming is related to the last hot, dry summer, followed by a more humid and colder period. The Stinzenplants go underground in the summer. They do this because they grow in the forest, where in the summer too little light falls on the forest floor, or because they want to avoid the dry warm summer. The latter is especially true for the plants that occur in the wild in southern Europe, such as the Snowdrop, the Crocus and the Winter Aconite.

Last week we published a report on our experiences with compost tea in the ‘Management’ section of this monitor (link recording). This week we publish a blog ‘Stinzenplants, what are we talking about, What ‘s in a name.’ (only in Dutch) The reason for this is that a series of 10 stamps has been published with images of Stinzenplants with a somewhat strange choice of plants.

We not only deal with the question, what do we mean by the term and  which plants do we reackon to be Stinzenplants, but we also deal with the question which historical crocuses can be found in these areas. Both questions are more difficult to answer than it seems at first glance. Curious? Click here.(only in Dutch)

Due to the warmer weather, the changes go quickly and the differences between the sites become smaller. The expectation is that the Snowdrops will still be beautiful next week. 

The bees, hoverflies and other buzzers also enjoy it during moments when the temperature rises above 10 degrees and the flowers are fully open.

The double Snowdrop also flowers in different areas. If you carefully hold the ‘bell’ up, you will see the nicely folded petals. For the Winter Aconites, the flowering will come to an end.  The flower of this plant comes first, surrounded by a circle of deeply incised leaves, followed somewhat later by leaves without flowers. These leaves provide the energy for next year. These leaves will become visible the coming week.

The Snowflakes are expected to be very nice next week, the flowering of the Tommasini’s Crocus will end and that of the Dutch Crocus may reach its peak. The later flowering varieties are already begin to appear, but we will not see much flowering of these plants next week. The garden of the Schierstins will be beautifully light purple coloured this weekend by the Tommasini’s Crocus. Now after some rain, it was partly  laying flat on the grass, but the correspondent hopes that they will rise again the next few days. The same happened at Philippusfenne.

On the churchyard next to the St Vitus church in Stiens the Dutch Crocuses are flowering abundantly, very special on this place of silence in the middle of the village.

This year we have a new correspondent for the Martenatuin, Ben Bruinsma. Ben is also looking for many gardens in North-East Friesland with Stinzenplants. As usual, we also occasionally report on sites that do not report weekly what is to be seen, but which are interesting to show here in the week of the calendar due to the efforts of the residents who cherish the Stinzenplants. Such gardens may inspire others.

One of the most beautiful areas in Friesland with the colourful Dutch crocus is at the Klinze in Aldstjerk (Oudkerk). Unfortunately we currently have no information about this area, but soon it will be a real crocus party here too. On our twitter account @MonumentStiens and on Facebook @StinzeStiens we will give information about the state of affairs at De Klinze this weekend.

Events *:

The participants in the Stinzenflora-monitor organise various activities during the Stinzenflora season. The events that are now 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.

Data: see TERRAINS

For in the agenda *:

Events in March:

Martenastate Koarnjum. 17 March, Nature photography excursion with Betty Kooistra. Extra information www.martenastate.nl. 30 March, Walking tour stinzenflora. This trip will be guided by Geert de Vries or Aad van der Burg. To register, please contact It Fryske Gea: www.itfryskegea.nl/activiteiten.

Schierstins Feanwâlden: Friday 22 maart 20.00 uur, lecture GROEN, GROENER, GROENST about biodiversity Jan Willem Zwart (De Kruidhof) and Greetje Cnossen (Norwin). Dutch spoken. http://www.schierstins.nl

Events in April:

Spring tour* ‘Stinzenflora’. Saturday 13 April (van 10.30 a.m. tot 4.30 p.m. ) During this spring tour (10.30 a.m. – 3.30 p.m. ) three beautiful Stinzenflora parks will be visited: Stinze Stiens, Martenastate en Dekemastate. At every location a guide will give information.Participants take care of their own transport, a bicycle is recommended. Costs € 35,-p.p., incl. lunch and coffee or tea in the morning and a drink in the afternoon. Booking via informatie@tunmanswente.nl
This trip can also be booked by groups on request on other days (at least 12 participants, duur 10.30 a.m. – 3.30 p.m.). A business trip or a trip with the family is also possible with a horse tram (extra costs, at least 20 participants.
*if there are not enough participants the trip will be canceled. 

Dekema State Jelsum. Museum weekend 13 and 14 April. Spring Fair 20 April: with a Stinzenplants search map you make a tour during these events and Willem van Riemsdijk will give a lecture about the cultural history of Stinzenplants. For prices, opening times and other activities see the website. www.dekemastate.nl

Schierstins Feanwâlden. 13 en 14 april, 13.30-17.00 uur. Museumweekend with tours garden / building. Entrance fee reduced; tour for free. http://www.schierstins.nl

Martenastate Koarnjum. 2 and 27 Aprl, Nature photography excursions with Betty Kooistra. 6, 13, 20, 21 en 22 April, Walking tours stinzenflora. Theses trip will be guided by Geert de Vries or Aad van der Burg. Extra information www.martenastate.nl. To register, please contact It Fryske Gea: www.itfryskegea.nl/activiteiten.

Announcements:

The Pastorietuin ‘De Weem’ in Warffum (Groningen) wrote a ‘blog’ on this website last year in the MANAGEMENT section. De Weem reports us:
Snowdrops open garden: 09-10 March 12.00 – 5.00 pm., Free access.
Pastorieweg 24
9989 BM Warffum (province of Groningen)
For centuries, many varieties of Stinzenplants have been growing in this garden of 7,000 square meters: Winter akonite, Snowdrop, Bulbous Corydalis, Bird in a Bush, Squills, various types of Lords-and-Ladies, Salomon’s seal, Wild tulip and Star-of-Bethlehem. Due to the massive growth of the Stinzenplants, only the shell paths are used.

* Subject to change. Always consult the websites of the participants for the latest information.

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