Seen many German cars around Winschoten this weekend? Every chance that part was hunting for Schneeglöckchen.
In the garden of Jannie Bos in Winschoten, the hunt for snowdrops does not cause any problems for anyone. They are in abundance. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, in as many as fifty species.
Excavation
It doesn’t stop there. The garden, which owes a remarkably large height difference to a sand excavation from a hundred years ago, is not called Wubsbos for nothing. It is rightfully a (flower) forest and as such included in the 15th (East) Groningen Flower bulb route .
Wubsbos
The name Wubsbos is a combination of Bos’ own surname and that of her husband Harry Wubs, who died in 2013. And coincidentally, the name forest also fits very well with the oversized hilly garden with tall trees.
The ice on the ponds gives the first snowdrop Sunday (on March 5 and 19, and April 23 and 30 are the next) a suitable start. A striking number of German tourists immediately arrive. In between, the initiators also receive tourist buses on other days that reserve a special day for this.
Germans are crazy about Dutch flowers, a reporter knows Ostfriesland Magazine who comes to take a look (and photos). A camera crew is just leaving.
Surprised
Bos is surprised by all this media attention. “Otherwise I would have gone to the hairdresser.” She says (too) modestly that her Wubsbos only plays a small role on the route. That is because she has nothing for sale and the catering industry is limited to a maximum of 30 visitors who have registered in advance (it is therefore sold out).
“They get a cup of coffee with a snowdrop cake from me. A good lunch with various soups awaits at Tuinfleur in Oostwold. De Houtstek in Blijham provides chocolate milk and you conclude the tour at the Stonefarm in Stadskanaal. In other gardens there is more catering and it is busier anyway. When it rains visitors at Rika van Delden in Oostwold (Oldambt), it drips with me.”
Still, her garden is impressive. That’s not just because of the snowdrops. “The Chimonanthus, better known as a melon tree, is also starting to bloom and gives the garden a wonderful scent upon entry. ,,Always place it at the entrance”, says Bos. Outside, in the public Maintebos on Sint Vitusstraat, blooming crocuses add color to the greenery.
Bickering robins
Two Polish ladies address her in English. Does she remember sending them Hellebore seeds years ago, another early bird among the plants? Of course she remembers that: a thank you card with Polish chocolate was returned.
The women come to the Netherlands more often to enjoy the flowers and have now deliberately come so early in the year to see how the snowdrops and Helleborus bud.
Meanwhile, four robins squabble with each other among the real early birds in the woods, especially great tits. ,,I was looking at that early this morning”, says Bos. ,,Delicious. If I were a bird, I’d live here too. But if you make the bulb tour: don’t forget the other gardens, right? Mine has nothing to do with that.”