Drooping star of Bethlehem

A spring flower, imported from the Mediterranean, many a day ago, maybe somewhere in the 17th century. In the old days Dutch landlords imported plants and trees from all over the world to plant in their own estate and show them off to their equally rich friends...

This afternoon I joined in for a field trip about a group of these spring flowers that were imported and are in full bloom right now. The weather conditions are perfect for them. They grow on a certain type of soil, rich in calcium. They like lots of daylight, so they only grow in springtime when the trees are still bare and the sun reaches the forest floor.

We also saw a little group of knotted chestnut trees. Very unusual. The baroness liked to put chestnut branches into a vase every spring and she liked to hand them out to the local nobility, so she instructed her gardener to keep them knotted. I never even knew this could be done.

I had a good time, learned some new facts and enjoyed the good weather.