Tomas thinks of himself as a “collector of plants” rather than a gardener. By the time you have finished reading this article I think you will agree that he is both.

He and his DW live in a suburb about 10 miles from the city where they were born. A few years after they were married they moved into their own home. This was in April of 1975 so Tomas’s garden goes back quite a long way.

In the beginning neither of them was really very interested in gardening so they purchased some shrubs just because everyone else did. In front of the terrace they planted 50 yellow roses and in the first winter they lost three but the following winter was devastating as the remaining 47 died. The garden was very damp so they planted just Cornus and Tomas describes the garden at that time as an ugly mess.

One day he got to thinking that for every situation in nature, whether dry or damp, something was growing there. He started a search for plants that liked dampness and that’s when his real interest began.

Tomas has a preference for perennials but does plant some annuals in pots and as fillers in the garden beds. He finds the ‘Starters in the Garden’ Gallery at GardenBuddies very helpful and is inspired to try starting annuals from seed. One of the first perennials to show itself after the frost has left the ground is the Pasque Flower followed by the Columbines. The Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) is an extremely hardy native of Sweden and represents the start of Spring. He grows three different colours, being red, white and blue.

His gardens consists of beautiful green lawns, colourful garden beds filled with perennials, clematis and roses and a beautiful water garden. There are some lovely established trees including a very large Amalanchier. He concentrates on the plants that will withstand the cold winters as they haven’t the room for storing plants during this time of year.

The plant business has been his profession for most of his life. He carries mainly cut flowers and indoor plants and sets his huge truck up as a mobile store for the florist shops. We remember last Xmas the beautiful photos that Tomas posted of his Amaryllis and the idea of hanging the stem upside down and the magnificent blooms opening as decoration for Christmas. Tomas said that he now has the idea from GardenBuddies to plant the bulbs in the ground in May and hopefully have a beautiful display – something which he has never seen in any garden in Sweden.

He and DW share the gardening but Tomas is the one who digs and prunes. He also purchases the plants of her choice and finds the suitable position for them to go. They don’t have very many garden pests due to the very cold winter climate.

Various fruit trees including plums, apples and cherries have been tried but with no success so two years ago Tomas purchased a cherry tree from Ukraina that is hardy to minus 5 degrees. He has had success for almost ten years with grape vines from Ukraina that will stand the same cold temperature.

His favourite tree is an Oak which he dug from the forest which is just across the road. The tree is 10 years old now and still only 5ft. high. He thinks the soil must be a little too cold but he lovingly prunes and shapes it every year. He and DW both go to the forest to pick berries and mushrooms.

There are 26 National Parks and forests in Sweden and also many parks and gardens in the city of Boras. One of the parks has 80 different varieties of Peony and another is filled with hundreds of Rhododendrons which are over 80 years old. It surely must be a wonderful sight. One of Tomas’s favourites is a small park which is filled with nothing but perennials and from this he gathers much information as to which ones to try.

It’s been a real pleasure talking with Tomas and his photos tell me that he may be a collector of plants but he is also a very talented landscape designer.