Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Danish Gardener

The Green Bed



This is Jens Rasmussen, one of the few remaining gardeners in Tungelsta. He owns a nursery called Åvalla, which he runs with his wife Kirsten. I met him at the greenhouse in the park a while back. He and a few other members from the local historical association were busy repairing and painting the greenhouse. Jens told me that he had a few things he wanted to show me, so I paid him a visit the following day. This is his green bed. As he posed for the photo in the greenhouse he apologised for not being a sexy babe in a bikini, but you can't have everything! The other thing he wanted me to see was two Geranium maderense plants he bought last year. They costed him 800 SEK each, and both plants promptly died within one month! This obviously upset the professional gardener so he decided to get some seeds from the plants and now, one year later he has several hundred plants in a few of his greenhouses. He wanted me to get some cultivation tips online which I now have done. I took two plants with me and gave them to my mother so now there are at least three gardeners in Tungelsta growing this plant. The third is Ingemar at Blomorado. Sadly Åvalla will close now as Jens has decided to retire. When Åvalla is gone there will be only five or six nurseries open in Tungelsta. Not a very high number considering that there has been more than 100 nurseries here since my great grandfather J.F. Jansson opened the first one back in 1909.

18 comments:

Jack said...

It is tough seeing these industrial cycles play out.

Barcelona m'enamora said...

Uau....he's really enjoying it! Long life to Avalla!

Great post! I love greenhouses with a lot of flowers. I usually go to a big one and buy flowers for my garden!

Bob Crowe said...

Have you called the homicide detectives yet?

Gerald (SK14) said...

I know nothing about gardening but admire those that do - super photo of lovely gent.

Anonymous said...

Nice set of photos, Steffe.

brattcat said...

I wonder if he will spend his retirement reclining in his garden bed?

Birdman said...

Hahahaha! A lot different then my gardener yesterday.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

I don't think he had to apologize Steffe, he does have 'sexy' legs haha!!

Gunn said...

Dette er et flott eksempel på fotografering av personer i deres rette element! :)

God helg!

Laurie Allee said...

Now that's my idea of getting back to nature!

I've enjoyed catching up on your blog. So many interesting and beautiful shots and stories!

RedPat said...

A great portrait!

VP said...

I like the way he tends the garden...

Stefan Jansson said...

Thanks all.

Jens is always surprised when people show up wanting to buy flowers as he doesn't have a shop here, I guess people assume that they can just walk in and buy whatever the want.


They should have arrived now Bob, do you think I need a lawyer?

I'm sure he will Brattcat.

That comment will probably make him happy Gracie!

Glad you like what you see Laurie.

CaT said...

this bed is sooo cool! he must be funny!

Unknown said...

Great photos of a sad story, Steffe, but a fantastic photo of Jens lying down on the job......
There are still many greenhouses near me in Kalamazoo (Michigan) growing "bedding plants" that are shipped all over the US.

janerowena said...

I'm surprised he lost those geraniums, they are quite tough, but at least he succeeded in the end.

Anonymous said...

Hej, Jens fru heter Kirsten.
Fina bilder. Pernilla

Stefan Jansson said...

Ibland blir det fel, och nu är det åtgärdat.