Groningen, NL

I spent a few days in Groningen, working with Yvan and exploring a bit. We were looking at cells of birds in the artic which is part of a project that a team of scientists are going to be working on this summer. They are now in Spitzbergen, doing feild research. Have a look at Yvan's Blog for more information on the continuation of the project. Super nice people, and a nice relaxing time.




Incredibly huge flowers, growing along the bike paths around Groningen. These are fast growing, 'weed' species, yet are quite beautiful and interesting.


My bike for the week, we got along allright, although she was quite noisy.



Where we were staying was a sort of campground, but for cottages. There were several of these gardens around, where they had let plants grow freely, similar to the idea of a jardin en mouvement. Next door, more cultivated plants were in the garden, so this was a smaller scale of the same kind of juxtaposition at Parc André Citroën.




The biggest slugs I've ever seen exist in the Netherlands.


The cottage, no electricity, no water, but a great place, very relaxing. Thanks Yvan for letting me stay, it was really a nice time.




A perfect example of the urban friche. In the city, this space existed without development. Whether it was this way because of underground conditions, or some other reason, it manifested a beautiful range of plants naturally occuring in the city. These are the type of spaces where biodiversity in the city is incredibly rich. I'm still reading 'Manifeste du Tiers Paysage', where Gilles Clément writes about this type of landscape and its function on a larger scale. Places like this are refuges for diversity, and are exciting manifestations of new nature.