Is this Finland’s most enchanting apartment building garden? Valve turned her backyard into a blooming patchwork that will blow your mind

The alarm clock rings at 4:40 AM, when Valve Tubli has a morning shift. She gets up briskly, opens the bedroom curtains, and looks outside. The cheerful blooming view from her first-floor apartment immediately lifts her spirits.

“From the very beginning, when I started building the garden, I dreamed of how wonderful it would be to look at a sea of flowers from my window and balcony.”

Planted into the nooks of the rugged natural rock, mossy saxifrage, lewisia, catsfoot, moss, creeping phlox, and other low rock garden plants bloom profusely in early summer. The slope, bathing in sun all day, is like a floral-patterned patchwork quilt.

Below the rock, the garden continues in a slightly shadier setting. Under the shade of rowan trees, various late tulips shine, and the flower globes of giant alliums sway atop their tall stems. The dozens of lilies that will bloom there later in the summer are still in their growth phase.

Nestled in Suurmetsä, Helsinki, the garden of an apartment building has transformed into a blooming oasis. The sunny, rocky grounds are especially favorable for rock plants.

The rock garden is at its most beautiful in early summer. Clumps of moss phlox, creeping phlox, tufted phlox, carnations, and lewisias grow on the slope.

Valve loves to observe the floral splendor from her balcony.

The garden is about 100 square meters in size. It includes a sunny rock garden and, below it under the shade of rowan trees, a slightly shadier area with tulips, alliums, and lilies.

The hosta ‘Twilight’ (in the foreground) and the aubrieta make a striking pair.

In early summer, the slope resembles a floral patchwork quilt in shades of white, green, purple, and pink.

In areas with minimal soil, Valve planted houseleeks.

Valve originally bought just two lewisia plants. Now, nearly 40 seedlings grown from their seeds flourish in the garden.

Valve moved to Finland from Estonia in 2006 and has worked at the Meira coffee roastery for ten years now. Despite living in a two-room apartment in Suurmetsä, Northeast Helsinki, she passionately pursues gardening. She established her garden in the backyard of the apartment building. The floral oasis, which she started in 2014, is located directly below her apartment. It all began when she had the idea to clear the slope overgrown with wild raspberries to make it look more beautiful.

“The housing company immediately reacted positively to my proposal, although the board’s conditions were that I couldn’t plant trees or edible plants. We made a written agreement that I would pay for, create, and maintain the garden myself. I wanted to be responsible for everything I do here. I think that since gardening is my hobby, it’s okay for it to cost a bit. I spend my money on the garden just like someone else might on golf.”

Behind the white and pink sea thrifts, thyme blooms as a purple carpet.

Initially, the garden expanded only one square meter at a time. In the early years, removing the raspberry thickets was grueling and sweaty work.

The rock is part of the garden’s beauty.

The delicate lady fern has found its way into the rock garden, possibly hitching a ride along with another plant.

In Valve’s experience, good-quality plants can be bought somewhat more affordably when you buy them small and past their bloom. Young plants often adapt to their growing place better than more expensive, larger ones. Moreover, they can be easily transported by bicycle, as Valve doesn’t have a car.

Plants that have finished blooming but are otherwise vibrant no longer attract most garden center customers, so such plants often end up in clearance bins. Valve has made good finds from them, as she doesn’t mind waiting until the next year for the bloom.

Sometimes you might even get plants completely free. Valve is soon planning to plant two garbage bags full of ‘Tête-à-Tête’ daffodils in her garden. She accumulated them when many neighbors donated their withered spring flowers to her, which otherwise would have ended up in organic waste.

Catsfoot thrives in the driest spots, with blooms ranging from white to pale pink.

Moss phlox blooms from May to June.

From above, the garden looks just as enchanting as it does from ground level.

In the first years, the gardening work involved a lot of clearing and sweaty labor because the raspberry thicket had to be removed as thoroughly as possible to make way for the plantings. Fortunately, raspberry roots don’t reach very deep into the ground, but they are persistent and can spread over a wide area. At first, the garden grew by only a square meter at a time.

The rock is so close to the surface that it largely dictated the garden’s plant choices. Valve explored suitable options on the internet. In the slope, the plants have barely a few dozen centimeters of soil, so its conditions really only suit small-rooted rock plants. Another absolute requirement was good drought and heat tolerance, since the sun beats down on the rock all day. For the spots with the least soil, she chose common houseleeks.

“My husband lives in Norway, and I spend all my holidays with him. I might be away for as long as three weeks, but the plants will manage.”

Every autumn, Valve plants more tulips.

Beneath the rock, in the shade of rowan trees, begins the garden's shadier section.

Here, tulips and alliums flourish, and later in the summer, lilies.

The 'Crispa Mix' tulip blend features flowers with decorative fringed petals.

Valve has permission from the housing company to use tap water for watering, but she prefers rainwater collected from the roof. However, she spends more time on weeding and tidying than watering. Faded flowers also need to be pinched off if you don’t want the plants to spread by seed.

Although there’s much less gardening work now than in the early days, Valve still often lingers in her garden until late in the evening. Time passes so quickly while working among the plants that sometimes it’s only a neighbor’s shout of “Now you’re working overtime!” from above that makes her notice the time.

“Here, my mind calms down. Watching the garden and tending to it are equally important to me. I also like to observe the birds’ nesting activities. Just yesterday, three blackbird chicks flew for the first time. They had their home in the spirea.”

You can’t help but admire the alliums rising above the rest of the floral splendor.

Below the ‘Gladiator’ giant alliums bloom different tulip varieties: ‘Foxtrot’, ‘Blackjack’, and ‘Purple Prince’. Columbines, eastern barrenworts, and hostas grow in front of the rowans.

Behind the chives rise the sturdy stems of martagon lilies.

The striking viridiflora tulip ‘Nightrider’ grows about half a meter tall.

Besides Valve, the other residents of the building can also freely enjoy the magnificent floral splendor, as everyone’s balconies face the same direction. Sometimes a neighbor offers to help, but for the most part, Valve keeps the gardening work in her own hands.

“I want the garden to bring joy to others as well. That’s why it feels really nice that all my neighbors have reacted so positively to it. Many take photos of the garden from their balconies or when passing by, and often someone stops for a moment to chat and ask about the plants. Sometimes neighbors might bring down coffee and pastries too.”

The garden manages well on its own for several weeks when Valve is traveling.