I have been to Sweden at least once every year since childhood and Stockholm has always been one of my favorite cities. So elegant and royal, but still cozy and homey. I remember when I was a child my great aunt´s Swedish friend used to send her post cards with Swedish royalties and I was for a long time convinced that my great aunt herself knows the queen and king of Sweden. Or at least has a friend who knows them, how else could you get photos of them, right? Don`t forget that I was born in 1981 – Estonia was hidden well behind the iron curtain and I had no idea that somewhere there is a land where you can buy these kinds of photo post cards from the shops.

The first time when I visited our Swedish relatives in 1990`s I was shocked to see the toy store. Barbies  – more than I could count – standing on the shelves, I will not even start to tell you what I felt when I saw the candy store! Yes, it was an advantage of having relatives abroad.

I am sorry for such a long introduction, which actually has nothing to do with the secret garden I wanted to tell you about. I just have so many nice memories from Sweden, it´s easy to get lost in thoughts:)

I think it was two years ago we discover Rosendals Trädgården and from that first moment I fell in love with the place.  It`s easily accessed by car and public transportation (opening times and directions HERE) and  worth a visit every season. I have been there on summertime, spring and even winter (note that they are closed in January) and it always has something to offer. I of course feel it´s most beautiful on summertime, when you can sit in the apple garden and enjoy a glass of wine or spend time on playground with child(ren).

Rosendal’s Garden is an open garden, with the main purpose of presenting biodynamic (organic) garden cultivation to the general public.

Besides environmental considerations in all gardening work, all produce used in  food processing is selected with utmost care. The garden crops are served at tables, and leftovers go back to the compost heap, providing first-rate soil for next year’s growth. Visitors can actually feel the continuity of a connected whole.

Since 1984, a self-supporting foundation manages the garden, without grants or subsidies. The proceeds from café, bakery, and shops directly support garden maintenance.

In the café, they serve coffee and tea, sandwiches, pastries, and light lunch dishes, with nothing but organically grown ingredients. All bread, pies, buns, cookies and cakes come from own Bakery, boasting a wood-fired stone oven built in 1998.

The Garden Shop offers selected organic foods, bread from Bakery, and organic fruit and vegetables. There are home-made herb teas, rose and lavender sugar, herbal salts and other exciting seasonings.
Here you find a nice choice of ecological olive oils and balsamic vinegars; selected natural skin care products and beautiful French soaps; as well as an assortment of tea cups, plates, vases, hand-printed tea towels, and other handicraft products.

The Plant Shop at Rosendal is found in one of the old greenhouses, where visitors can buy a little bit of the Rosendal garden to take home. During summer, they offer a carefully selected assortment of garden plants – most of them the same varieties as in our own garden, perennial flower beds, and herb and spice garden.

They sell old-fashioned roses, many of which can be seen in our Rose garden, below the Orangery. There is also a nice range of orangery plants: potted Mediterranean plants such as olive, laurel, fig, and citrus trees.

The Plant Shop also sells beautiful garden tools and other accessories for home-growing: soil, pots, wooden barrels, trellises, hammocks, bird-baths, and other handicraft.
The choice of vegetables on sale follow the season: in the harvest months, gardeners deliver fresh vegetables every morning.

Of course there are MANY places to visit when in Stockholm, but I truly recommend to take a bit time to walk through Rosendals, it not far from the amusement park and Abba Museum. For me it has become one of these places which I must visit, and I am pretty sure you will feel the same.