The Gardens of Mien Ruys - a book review
I don't know how I missed her, but I was totally unfamiliar with Mien Ruys. A beautiful new book The Gardens of Mien Ruys details her life and work. Born in the Netherlands in 1904, she was the daughter of Bonne Ruys, who founded Moerheim Nursery in 1888. She grew up in a liberal atmosphere and encouraged to learn and study. She found great comfort in the natural world around her and learned all the plants in her father's nursery at a young age. After leaving school at the age of 19, she knew that she wanted to work in the garden center. The Moerheim Nursery, in addition to selling plants, had an on-site design studio where they published a detailed catalog and sold landscape design plans to customers. It was in the design studio where Ruys first began to work and she was soon encouraged to venture beyond her country and study abroad. Her father's connections helped her secure a traineeship with Wallace & Sons Nursery in Tunbridge Wells in England. There, she met Gertr...
Beautiful. They don't have a long bloom period but they really put on a show for a brief time. Some of my favorite shrubs.
ReplyDeleteMarnie
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ReplyDeleteGreat picture! I love the combo! Wenus says hello! :-)
ReplyDeleteSeems one of the comments above is a bit of a hijack.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photo Phillip. I like the statue in front of the viburnum.
Rob
The positioning of the statue and the flowers make it seem as if there is a thought bubble coming from the statue! I wonder what she is thinking? Maybe "now where have my arms gone?"
ReplyDeleteBeautiful plant, I love viburnums!
I like the way the balls seem to be falling down onto or floating up out of the statue's head. I do love viburnums and this one is, as you say, a show stopper.
ReplyDeleteViburnums surly offer a shrub for every gardener and every garden. These look to formal for my wilderness, but they look lovely in your garden. Twelve feet tall and still growing! Be careful on that ladder when pruning this tall guy! gail
ReplyDeleteTHis is a gorgeous viburnum. I love the statue in front too. Great composition.
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful! My seeds are doing so well. I will forever be grateful for the information you gave me back at : http://momingarden.blogspot.com/2009/03/ordering-who-do-you-trust.html
ReplyDeleteHappy Spring Dear Garden Friend.
I love the snowball bushes. I have one that's still got a while until it blooms. I'm not sure what variety it is, the blooms don't get nearly that big.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbor has one and it is glorious right now! I am so envious!
ReplyDeleteCameron
lovely photo! I have never heard of that one. I will have to hunt it down.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a relative of the old Snowball bushes that were in every yard when I was a kid. They bloom with such abandon - no holding back.
ReplyDeleteMust have been tough, too, because we dreadful children used to pull off the flowers to throw at each other in floral snowball fights.
Wish I had one now!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
These virburnums are as stunning as hydrangeas - just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI have three of these from Lowe's in Tupelo, MS that I planted last year and they are doing great, getting ready to bloom. I love them!
ReplyDeleteStunning! I want a snowball bush in my yard but haven't yet found them in any of the local nurseries. I love how big this one gets. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI usually am able to get these for the nursery, coincidentally enough from a grower in Alabama. They go unnoticed until someone sees them blooming around town and comes in looking for that "big green hydrangea".
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