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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...

First Frost Bouquet



We had our first frost of the season last night on the last day of November. Kind of late this year. I went out and cut a few remaining roses to bring inside. It was so cold today with the high only reaching around 45. Dense fog was in place until around noon. I took my walk this morning and only encountered a few people. This afternoon, the sun came out and it didn't feel too cold but I was bundled up to the max. I did more pot moving and rearranged the deck. 

The remaining roses are 'Lady Emma Hamilton', 'Sea Foam', 'Gold Medal', 'Robin Hood' and 'Coral Cove'.

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. Glad you were able to gather them up before they withered away!

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  2. That is a gorgeous last arrangement of 2024, so good you get to enjoy them. I bet the sun felt nice!

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