It is now 27th of May. We headed to Gelsenkirchen where we had some friends to visit. All along the way, we passed canola fields, white daisies, blue lupins, and pine forests. Briar roses are now appearing on the road sides. We booked into a hotel for three days. The next day we had a very special garden treat: Buga 97, a national flower show which ran from 19th April to 5th October. On a hundred hectares of land that was formerly the grounds of a colliery, plenty of people must have worked hard to plant the various areas, construct a canal, a pyramid, a play area with a small boating lake, an adventure playground, a monorail, and a amphitheatre. We also delighted in the gardens of the town exhibition and different ground plantings such as a large rhododendron grove.
Large buildings held special displays which were changed each week. We managed to see a fantastic display of hydrangeas. Such large blooms! They came in all shades of pinks and blues. We enjoyed ‘A Real German Meal’ from one of the many restaurants in the gardens.

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On 30th May we travelled onward to Holland, spending the night on a dyke in Volendam. The homes were actually lower than water level by one floor as most of them seemed to be double-story buildings. Here, I saw the biggest clematis flower which was light mauve with a darker centre. We saw very few flowers. Those that were around were mostly in pots or baskets. Similarly, there are some lovely green trees in the city of Amsterdam but few flowers. Next was Rotterdam and then south to the storm-surge barrier. Here we saw hundreds of glasshouses surrounded by water, growing vegetables. Having been too late for the tulips in Holland, we were so glad we had seen them in the other countries.

Moving back to Germany and down the Rhine, we again saw our familiar friend the Flanders Poppy, and lupins on the road edge. Roses are now seen everywhere,  briar and garden roses with so many blooms and on such healthy plants, even in islands down the centre of the roads.

On one stop beside the Rhine, I saw some small sedum in flower on the bank. This is also a great grape-growing area and there were many hillsides covered in vines. At a place called Rolandswerth,  we saw a house sporting a live, growing, grass roof. This area really is beautiful as all the travel books tell you. For once, they did not exaggerate! We had the pleasure of sighting so many castles and homes with the slat timber on the outside. Leaving the Rhine at Heidelberg, we drove down the little Neckar river (a route which took us past even more castles) until we reached the city of Neckarsulm the birthplace of my great grandfather.

We were met by a cousin who insisted we stay at their home for the next three nights. So, from there we accomplished day-trips to various places: the Audi car factory, a walled hilltop town called Bad Wimpfen, and a garden show at Mosbach which is another six-month show along the lines of the Buga show but not as good.

One thing I forgot to mention is that many Germans, including the former east Germans, have what they call a ‘weekend garden,’ which is a small piece of land away from their homes where they grow their own vegetables.

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Leaving Germany, we entered France again via Strasbourg. Of course, we had to stop by the roadside to buy fresh raspberries, gooseberries, and cherries which were wonderful! We also again saw fresh asparagus direct from the fields. Many places have window boxes of ivy geraniums which were so colourful. The further north we drove, the more red poppy-fields we saw. Any land that has been plowed or disturbed, up spring the poppies.

Grain was now seen in many fields too. Our scenery consisted of potato, turnip, and sugar beet fields most of the way to the northern beaches, broken up by a large field of digitalis (foxglove) near Roen. In a park at a town called Beauvais an old car planted with various flowers was a clever idea. The Normandy area was an eye-opener for us, with plenty of war bunkers and beach landing gear still where it came ashore. The American War cemetery at Omaha Beach was a beautiful area so spotless and well designed.

Claude Monet's garden at Giverny was another ‘must-see’ — no matter which way you pointed the camera, a photo was needed to capture the scene! There had been a small flood two days before and they had already replanted the damaged areas. A tour through Monet’s home completed the day.