As I have already said in the previous post, the wild flowers are everywhere. But what is also interesting is the fact that this time of year you can see plants flowering together at the same time, which in England this would be spread over the whole summer. It is because their summer is so much shorter, so when June (start of their summer) arrives, it is an explosion of flowers. Comes August, it is all over, in fact August can feel like September/ October here.
The Swedish people are making most of their summer, the countryside is littered with weekend cottages. And if they haven't got a cottage or a caravan, they pack a picnic and head out to the nearest lake. They are great outdoor people and they expect well equipped camp sites with facilities for children and good picnic areas.
They don't have gardens in the way we here in England have, with hedges and high fences and within them we try to create our idea of the ideal garden. Theirs are very open, they are a part of the countryside and the nature around them, in a harmony with it.
Probably because of the short summers outside, Swedish people love to decorate their homes with house plants and cut flowers.
Every small town we visited had a flower shop, or two, or three. And they are not small, they stock everything you need to keep your plants happy and to display them to their best advantage. ( I usually come home with a plant or two, with something I haven't seen in our local shop.)