There are three reasons that I like to visit IKEA - in their food store they sell an excellent selection of vacuum packed coffees for filters and cafetières at very reasonable prices - I stock up with several packets to last a few months. I also purchase SÅS - a mustard and dill sauce which is delicious with both smoked and fresh salmon, several jars return home with me. The food shop is always at the exit after you have gone through the final tills. Thirdly get your timing right and you can find some wonderful and unusual plants for both the house and garden at great prices.
Argyranthemum - marguerite daisy
Cytisus with its miniature pea-like flowers
Stephanotis has a heavenly scent and waxy star shaped flowers
IKEA like to take you for a large detour around their huge stores passing things that they hope will tempt you, but you can cut through into what they call their Marketplace which takes you straight to the plants. I can be in and out in about 20 minutes flat - job done.
These three large beautiful plants cost me only £15.
It is St. Patrick's Day today and these colours represent the Irish flag - green, white and orange. If you celebrate it then do have a happy day.
via wikipedia
Fabulous blooms Rosemary, what a bargain.
ReplyDeleteJean x
That was quick Jean - I have only just this minute published.
DeleteThe smell in the car yesterday was wonderful, and I was delighted with my purchases. The Cytisus, in particular, were walking off the shelves like there was no tomorrow.
The plants are lovely Rosemary, and you know, I am smiling that you went to Ikea. In my imagination you live in your beautiful English garden surrounded by nature, and never go anywhere as mundane as Ikea. I know, too much imagination and I really need to get out more :) Cheers from Aus!
ReplyDeleteDear Patricia - I am smiling too. I do leave my little Cotswold idyll from time to time - the IKEA is an hours journey through the countryside for me to the city of Bristol. However, it is worth the trip when I can find such lovely plants, and see whats going on in the outside world!!!
DeleteI've never bought plants in Ikea. We don't really go there often as there's none really close to where we live. The closest one is in France so that's the one we visit when we do go to Ikea. I always see a lot of orchids there but I've never seen the kind of plants you found. You're probably right about being there at the right moment.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely sunday,
Marian
Dear Marian - I think that a large container had just come in the night before I arrived so I was lucky. Sometimes I go and I am obviously too late. I also got a load of smaller pots - ferns etc and they were all less than £2 and really good healthy plants. The conservatory and house are now well stocked for the coming year, and everything is looking much more lively.
DeleteI suddenly have the urge to go to Ikea...beautiful plants.
ReplyDeleteI am going to a wedding shower today...in green. my niece is marrying into an Irish family and we were all asked to wear green.
I have been in north America several times on St. Patrick's Day and it is celebrated there much more so than it is here. I have been on Anna Maria Island in Florida and they have huge parades with an elephant, vintage cars, marching bands etc.
DeleteHave a lovely green day at the wedding shower.
I'm between 2 IKEA stores - 4 hrs,. one way, 3 hrs. the other - both really too far for a day trip so don't go often. I love to saunter about there - always find odds and bobs I didn't know existed but could use - especially for the kitchen. They do have some nice items and, like you say, the food section always offers enticing goodies. I will try that sauce next time as we eat a lot of salmon.
ReplyDeleteLOVE all the plants, and such bargains - you really hit the store at the perfect time I think.
Enjoy the colors and fragrance Rosemary - after this Winter I'm sure you will!
Hugs - Mary
Dear Mary from the Cotswolds to Bristol takes me about an hour, so it is worth the journey as long as I get there at the right moment - sometimes it doesn't work, the good plants tend to walk off the shelves very quickly.
DeleteWhat lovely plants. There is a lot to be said for IKEA and their fabrics are often lovely, but I don't like visiting much because you always get so lost, I think they design the shops to be confusing! :)
ReplyDeleteI think that they have designed their store specifically to tempt you into buying what you suddenly need but didn't know you did!!!
DeleteAs I mention there are shortcuts if you experiment and follow the signs.
Dear Rosemary, Have not visited Ikea. You have changed my mind. Did not know that they sell plants. I will also have to look for the mustard and dill sauce. The only problem...the nearest Ikea is 2 hours down the road. Happy St. Patrick's Day.
ReplyDeleteGravlax as you will know is a Swedish traditional dish, so this sauce is a really delicious product to buy from a Swedish shop, and it is very cheap too.
DeleteOh you are brave Rosemary. A sticky bun award is in the post for running the IKEA gauntlet 20 minute time trial. I've only visited once and the queue took 20 mins!
ReplyDeleteDear Paul - I have got IKEA down to a fine art - no running the gauntlet for me. They now have express tills that take your credit card without charging extra. The food store is always empty - people do not seem to realise the lovely little Swedish titbits that are in it - cloudberry jam, orange and elderberry flower marmalade, lovely pickled herrings!!!
DeleteYou had enjoyed your walk to IKEA! I liked your plants !
ReplyDeleteYou are preparing so quickly for the spring ! Your link for Anna's blog
is wonderfful ! May be I shall do the same after my next post !
Thank you my friend !
Dear Olympia - I love their plants and they always such good value. Glad you like the link for Anna - hope she does well.
DeleteLubię odwiedzać Ikeę, bo zawsze coś ciekawego się wypatrzy i kupi. Ty masz ślicznego pachnącego kwiatka. Pozdrawiam.
ReplyDeleteI like to visit Ikee, because there's always something interesting is spotted and buy. You have a lovely scented flower. Yours.
Staram się odwiedzić IKEA głównie dla roślin, a niektóre z szwedzkiej żywności, ponieważ są bardzo dobrej jakości - dziękuję za Twój komentarz.
DeleteHi Rosemary, I don't think that Ikea in Taiwan sells flowers--although I don't stop by there too often. Their policy that you remark on of making people traipse through the entire store means that I only go there in dire emergencies.
ReplyDeleteDear Jim - I can't take the journey through the shop it drives me to distraction, but as I mention it is possible to cut the journey out if you look at the signs carefully. I didn't realise that they were in Taiwan too, what a successful enterprise it is.
DeleteDear Rosemary,
ReplyDeletethe IKEA I know better than any other, is the one in Brooklyn. It's very, very crowded and, the weird thing is that people seem to go there just for the cheap Swedish meatballs!
Before I say anything else, I must thank you for the "VOTE FOR ANNA'S BOG" addition to your sidebar. It would be nice to be a finalist, especially in the Regional Food section. Competition is very strong, though, so I don't have much hope and, in a way I already feel like a winner, as you, friends, have showed me so much affection , I feel moved... THANK YOU!
Dear Rosemary, remember your post about the Pope's red shoes? Had I told you that I am a bit of a "witch" with an incredible sixth sense? Do you remember my saying that I didn't believe in the Church as an institution and that it should follow the example of St. Francis of Assisi, etc? How was I to now that the new Pope would, indeed, name himself Papa Francesco, after St. Francis of Assisi, for exactly the same reasons I was mentioning. How strange! The new Pope, Francesco said that he would like a poor church, for the poor people. He wants to follow the example of St. Francis of Assisi and... he will never wear those red shoes! It's too much of a coincidence, don't you think?
Not wearing my glasses... can't see what I am writing!
CIAO!
ANNA
xxx
Dear Anna - glad you like the sidebar for your blog - hope it yields some more votes for you.
DeleteI do remember you mentioning about Francis of Assisi and that surely is a coincidence. I would be very surprised if the new pope took to wearing red shoes, after all he left the papal palace in Buenos Aires to live in a simple flat and dispensed with the papal car to travel on the buses.
Swedish meatballs are not for me but I do like the dill and mustard sauce.
Ciao♥
I visited my first Ikea store just last month. Loved it! But, they didn't sell flowers there. :( We did, however, eat in their cafeteria, and I noticed the food shop at the end, but they were starting to close, so didn't get to see what all they offered there. Will have to go back!
ReplyDeleteThe food shop here is not extensive but it does have a few choice Swedish things to buy - cloudberry jam which is a delicacies from the Nordic countries, I believe that they only grow there, and lovely marmalade with elderberry flowers in it.
DeleteI'm afraid I've never set foot in Ikea in my life, Rosemary (none anywhere near us) but |I loved your photos. so spring-like. :-)
ReplyDeleteDear Perpetua - I have to travel to Bristol to find IKEA - it is a once a year trip for me, I don't do the furniture or anything else. I do get a free mug of good coffee thrown in too as I have what they call their family card. You can have as many coffees as you like. I normally then go on to John Lewis so I do not need to pay for a coffee there, saves me nearly £2 - what a skinflint I am.
DeleteThere's always many beautiful things to buy and eat at Ikea. The flowers and your photos are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI do not know whether you have plants at your store, but over here they are excellent. My conservatory is looking a treat to greet the sunny weather now.
DeleteI wish I was more often in IKEA. My husband hate it! I have thought of driving there alone but it's a bit too far and I haven't dared yet.
ReplyDeleteThe flowers are my favourite part too : ) Love your choises!
H went to IKEA once and has never returned!!! he hated it tool. It is an hours journey for me, so I only make the trip when I need some plants at this time of year. Perhaps you could pluck up courage to go and take a friend along to accompany you.
DeleteI enjoy visiting IKEA and have bought a lot of their products for my studio/office-space. I think the really great thing about IKEA is that whatever one's budget might be, there's the possibility of affording a tasteful environment.
ReplyDeleteHappy St. Patrick's Day!
Dear Mark - they are top notch for office and studio stuff. I think that for young couples setting up home it is an excellent place to find cheerful bedlinen, towels and reasonably priced furniture. Some of my friends have also done their kitchens with IKEA units and they are very well designed and smart. At this stage of life I do not need those things, but plants die and need to be replenished.
DeleteI hate IKEA with a passion, and have vowed never to enter another one, in France, or England. I know this vow will be broken, because at some stage I will once again develop a need for some strangely named useful storage item, or some of those very practical wine glasses. I like your 20 minute idea, perhaps I would not hate the place so much if I had ever managed to get in and out within 20 minutes. J.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly where you are coming from Janice - H hates it with a passion too, and so did I until I discovered how I cut shortcut a route to everything I want - the plants will give me endless pleasure all year.
DeleteI like Ikea and as you say the pricing is excellent. So sad to hear about your husbands' health saga on the previous post. He was very lucky that the doctor wasn't on holiday and was there when he was needed.
ReplyDeleteJune
There were 3 things really that worked in his favour and made him a lucky chap. The first was standing his ground at the hospital and refusing to budge, the second the wonderful invention of the MRI scanner, and third the skilled surgeon who had arranged his holiday, luckily, for the following week.
DeleteI am very unlucky.. Ikea, is on the other side of Lisbon. In a way, I am pleased. I would probably spend too much there.
ReplyDeleteI dont know if there is a garden area in the Lisbon shop.! Thats great. Walk in , get what you want and out again.
Nina buy's her office furniture from there.
They have some great stuff.
lovely buy's Rosemary.
I can see your patio has some sun.
Our weather is just awful.
x val
Yes today was sunny again, the weather is so mercurial. You are right they do have great office furniture, but it is the plants that I am after - these will look lovely in the conservatory for a long time and bring lots of colourful pleasure.
DeleteHave you noticed that I have put Anna on my sidebar so that hopefully people can vote for her blog?
I also like IKEA, Have you tried the blueberry jam?
ReplyDeleteTheir jams are good - like homemade. I haven't had the blueberry but I have had the cloudberry which is a golden colour. The berries only grow in the nordic countries, and I like their orange marmalade with elderflowers.
DeleteNice flowers, brights up the house.
ReplyDeleteGreetings,
Filip
Thanks Filip - very happy with them
DeleteHi Rosemary, our closest IKEA is in Atlanta, Georgia which is about two hours away and we make a day of it when we go. I always go with someone else who drives as Atlanta traffic is horrid. I do enjoy the plants. I have not looked at the food products before. Must do that next time. Olive
ReplyDeleteDear Olive they also have some very nice jams and marmalade, and of course pickled herrings.
DeleteI can think of a few more reasons(cheap bedding for teenage boy sleep-overs, for one!) The trouble is - I don't drive and Mr N loathes the place!
ReplyDeletePerhaps it would be a good idea if IKEA provided a 'husband creche' where they could read the newspapers, have a drink, and sit comfortably whilst they waited - all on the house of course - they could afford it, and they might get more business.
DeleteI don't think I've ever been to an IKEA store but I've heard many good reports. I didn't even know they sold food or plants - they seem to cater for everyone.
ReplyDeleteThey only sell a few specialised foods from Sweden, and the plants are a case of getting there when they have just received a new delivery of unusual plants as they fly off the shelves here. I didn't realise that IKEA were in so many countries around the world.
DeleteThere is an IKEA store not far from where I live, but I don't visit often. You need to be there just after they open, before it becomes crowded. I have purchased some healthy basil in a pot from them and I enjoy their coffee in the cafeteria. The plants you chose look fresh and pretty. The perfume of Stephanotis is lovely. Great value!
ReplyDeleteAs long as you know what you want and how to get to it quickly it is OK. The plants I picked up were just in and there were walking out of the store in everyone's trolly especially the yellow standard cytisus which were a great bargain.
DeleteThe nearest Ikea is a four hour drive. I have been only once. The store layout was confusing. Several stories high. Are all ikea's designed this way? If I knew I would find plants like yours, at those prices, I would jump in the car and drive there today!
ReplyDeleteFour hours is a very long drive. It would only be worth calling if you were passing it on your way home.
DeleteAll the stores are designed to take you wandering through the whole building. I expect to get you to buy more than you came in for. If you look carefully or even ask for help it is possible to take shortcuts as I do. If I had to wander the whole building I would not go.
Lovely plants Rosemary and such good value. At the end of last week I spotted your post about the Tres Riches Heures and when I went into the post to read it, it said not possible or no longer available or some such words. I looked the next day but it was gone from the blog list. Why I'm asking is that I am just about, as we speak, to write an essay which includes this wonderful illuminated manuscript and was interested in what you were going to say about it.
ReplyDeletePatricia x
Dear Patricia - you have just caught me before I vanish!!!
DeleteI have done a post for the beginning of April on Très Riches Heures for which I accidentally pressed publish instead of save, so had to retrieve it which is not easy as I lost lots of comments on the post that was already current. I am intending to show the appropriate illuminated manuscript for each month so will complete showing them all by next March 2014. Each month I will give a little bit of the history i.e. who it was made for, who did the painting how they were painted etc. By next March hopefully most of the story will have emerged.
It is a wonderful, wonderful treasure, and I hope that you enjoy doing your essay and get top marks for it.
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely healthy plants - no Ikea here unfortunately.