![LeuvehavenHeader copy](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1524/23612631163_6851b874f8_b.jpg)
Thank you for coming back for the next post about my Carex Tours trip to The Netherlands last autumn! Today, we look at The Leuvehaven, located in Rotterdam.
![Leuvehaven16](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/704/21270127874_2b04455933_c.jpg)
Located on a spit of land on the Nieuwe Maas River, this was to be our first Oudolf-designed garden on the trip...and...believe it or not, the first Oudolf-designed garden I had every seen in person!
![Leuvehaven20](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5755/21892839355_b1bdd60053_b.jpg)
As we got off the bus, we were confronted by the Merchant Marine Monument, which juts up into the air like the prow of a ship. Very imposing, right?
![Leuvehaven19](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5811/21270118144_3eabb3a296_c.jpg)
The monument if fronted by a mix of perennials, with a limited palette of Panicum, Calamagrostis brachytricha, Perovskia and Persicaria.
![Leuvehaven25](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/711/21705971789_3cebe9ba4d_b.jpg)
The refined palette gives the planting a very calming and harmonious feel...not to mention a very tactile one.
![Leuvehaven21](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/641/21705009938_58f260b783_c.jpg)
The wonderful, subdued colors are perfect...especially paired with the ephemeral blooms of the Calamagrostis.
![Leuvehaven28](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5685/21902475801_82a2b33b81_c.jpg)
Did I mention that it was POURING at this garden? It was...heavily!
![Leuvehaven4](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5642/21880954872_64fa31d944_c.jpg)
Once past the initial strip of planting, there are several elevated beds, each triangular in shape, looking out over the river.
![Leuvehaven1](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/719/21705073788_8f71e8d6b0_b.jpg)
Soaring above everything is this fabulous bridge, the Erasmus bridge.
![Leuvehaven5](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5823/21270164334_5888c9d3f4_c.jpg)
No bridge can really compete with the plantings, however, at least not to a gardener!
![Leuvehaven7](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5641/21902548651_8688fbbd5c_c.jpg)
This is a relatively small garden, but, again, because of the limited plant selection, it doesn't feel like a crammed jumble. Most plants are used in generous swathes, each flowing seamlessly into the other.
![Leuvehaven8](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5688/21270154904_67b07a98f4_b.jpg)
While there is a wealth of contrasting textures, shapes and colors, it isn't overwrought...there is a relaxed dynamism to the combinations.
![Leuvehaven48](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/661/21270011454_f21f235e0c_c.jpg)
I think back on that day and this is my memory...trying to stay dry...while taking as many photos as possible. Obviously, for most people, staying dry trumps photos!
![Leuvehaven10](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/770/21706019479_c377123a4a_c.jpg)
One of those plant combinations that we were to see again and again during our trip. Grasses and Asters...classic.
![Leuvehaven9](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/598/21705049798_9e5e2eb5bf_c.jpg)
I'm not sure what it is about The Netherlands...but they can grow these larger Sedums to perfection.
![Leuvehaven11](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5765/21866732706_aed235ec65_c.jpg)
If there is one plant that I will always associate with this garden, however, its Deschampsia...as in this photo...it forms misty clouds all around the garden.
![Leuvehaven13](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5653/21705034498_66900d7823_b.jpg)
It serves to perfectly soften the harder, more solid forms of so many plants, like this Sedum (probably 'Matrona').
![Leuvehaven31](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5763/21866659726_55caec6628_c.jpg)
And here...it's the perfect, gauzy backdrop for the undulating spires of Salvia.
![Leuvehaven47](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5778/21892739335_23df16e6a1_c.jpg)
Did I mention it was raining?
![Leuvehaven30](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5688/21892801705_b5a6533f5f_b.jpg)
I love how Oudolf seems to effortlessly create effects such as this...of plants flowing into and out of each other like water.
![Leuvehaven36](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/628/21704723710_c32e39c32b_c.jpg)
And how other plants spring up from lower-growing companions.
![Leuvehaven37](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5741/21880838352_ca67da36e4_c.jpg)
I kept thinking here, "I need more Asters,".
![Leuvehaven46](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5631/21902407761_dc646ee71c_c.jpg)
Such is the richness of Oudolf's gardens that we were all constantly discovering things...and pointing them out excitedly to others in the group!
![Leuvehaven18](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/676/21704790090_8391a43554_b.jpg)
"SIGH"...if only my 'Matrona' looked this good!
![Leuvehaven42](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5724/21880819992_8b86bef084_b.jpg)
Thank goodness for smartphones...how did people look up plants before they were around?
![Leuvehaven38](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5783/21866634466_6227072d9d_b.jpg)
As we climbed back onto the bus to head off into the city for lunch, I grabbed a few last photos. If you're ever in Rotterdam, you must visit this garden...it's utterly fabulous.
I hope you join me again next week for a look at the wonderful Vlinderhof Garden. Also...I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Carex Tours is repeating this tour again in 2016...details available here...if you can swing it, you should sign up...it's worth every penny!