The Flower Hour #53 A Peek at Flowers in Europe

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For the Flower Hour, share your images of flowers, gardens, fields of flowers, seasonal leaves and plants, fungus, algae, cacti, trees and tree blossoms, berries, and wildflowers. Bouquets and silk/faux flowers are welcome.

Saturday, October 10, found us in the French/German city of Strasbourg. More about the city later, but enjoy the beautiful apartment buildings adorned with these floral displays.

Strassbourg apartment and flowers

I wonder who waters them?

Here are some fun floral images I snapped while visiting the town of Breitnau in Germany’s Black Forest region. We visited this area October 11, essentially the last day of our Rhine River Cruise.

the Hofgut Sternen hotel
Hotel Hofgut Sternen adorned in Geraniums

The life-sized, giant chalet cuckoo clock in Breitnau, Germany, is located at the Hofgut Sternen Hotel complex.

Black Forest Cuckoo Clock Chalet.

We stood in front of it at 3:30pm and watched the big cuckoo pop out, while the dancers did their dance on the balcony, complete with pretty pink petunias!

closeup Life sized cuckoo clock germany

Remember, there are no specific themes for the Flower Hour, but please use your own photography from your archives or new images. Your original images reimagined with AI tools in post-editing are also welcome. And you have all week to link to this post.

New to The Flower Hour photo challenge? Please check out my page for more information! I encourage “double-dipping” with other blog challenges if you do not want to create a separate post.

A hearty thank you to Pam Perrault at Enchanting Essex who hosted the Flower Hour for two weeks in my absence. If you missed her posts, you can still visit:

The Flower Hour #51: Purple and Gold — The Perfect Royal Pairing

The Flower Hour #52: Cornucopia – Abundance and Gratitude


Also sharing for Pepper’s One Step at A Time I walked an average of 10,000 steps a day on our daily excursions. Whew!

floral signature
graphic TW to Europe

© 2026 Terri Webster Schrandt | secondwindleisure.com. All rights reserved. All content on this blog is protected by copyright and may not be copied, reposted, or reblogged without written permission.


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66 responses to “The Flower Hour #53 A Peek at Flowers in Europe”

  1. […] Flower Hour Flowers of England and France […]

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I hope you’re enjoying your travels, Terri. It all looks so central Europe, very charming.

    Here is mine:

    https://photographias.wordpress.com/2026/10/21/flower-hour-dahlia-3/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Sofia, we are back home now. Two weeks was a good length of time. Anything in Europe was amazing to me 🙂

      Like

  3. […] Posted for Terri’s Flower Hour […]

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Tranature - quiet moments in nature Avatar
    Tranature – quiet moments in nature

    Such fabulous flower baskets Terri, lovely to see so much still in bloom! 🩷 Wishing you a wonderful time away and our contribution for this week’s lovely challenge is here: https://tranature.com/2026/10/21/wordless-wednesday-let-the-flowers-speak/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Xenia! We’re back home now! Thanks for linking!

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Lovely views! 🌸 The giant cuckoo clock is such fun. 😀 Like Klaus, I am also from northern (northwest specifically) Germany, and it’s true that we tend to “look down” on the stereotypical southern German culture, because the rest of the world perceives all of Germany to be this way, which is not accurate. The two cultures are very different, similar to north vs south in the U.S., Italy, and other countries. That said, I find it rustic and charming, similar to Austria and Switzerland. 💖

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Debbie. I’d heard of the differences between Northern and Southern Germany. I’ll go with rustic and charming!

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Such gorgeous flowers, Terri, and they add so much charm. I imagine it takes a lot to maintain them, but well worth it. 🥰

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Eugi! It appears that the flower choices are such that they don’t need a lot of care. I saw a lot of geraniums and petunias.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. You’re welcome, Terri.

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Well, dear Terri, I am Northern German and I can’t bring myself to like what I call ‘kitsch’ in southern German architecture. We find the cuckoo clock house an eyesor.
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Haha, well I shouldn’t laugh, but just like here in the states, some regions’ versions of architecture or other items can be head- scratchers. Coming from a German such as yourself, I surely appreciate your opinion and your history that shaped it.

      Liked by 2 people

  8. So enchanting, Terri – I’m so pleased you had a great trip!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Toni, there were a couple of downs but no trip is perfect. I saw that you followed my adventures on FB!

      Like

  9. Window boxes of geraniums are a staple in a lot of European cities and towns. I gather the cuckoo clock was worth standing there.

    Great memories Terri, thanks for sharing

    Liked by 2 people

    1. That is so true, Brian, and pleasure to see with my own eyes! We timed the cuckoo clock perfectly on our way to walk to Oswald Chapel.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Those flower arragents are lovely and so nice of them to do them for us photographers 😂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Of course, they’re all over Europe as you would know. Fun to see!

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Ah man Europe does flowers so well! And they are out early and last long!
    Here is my much closer to home post (literally all 3 are right out the back door!)

    Still Standing

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was warmer in the areas we visited so I’m sure the flowers grew happily. Here there are still huge hanging baskets of petunias!

      Like

      1. We’ve been in Germany at the end of April and the baskets already look amazing!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I think moisture in the air is the key for those flowers. We’re too dry here. But it was a pleasure to see flowers around every corner!

        Like

  12. It’s not just the flowers, but the building complements them so well, making them look perfect there. Such a great photo!

    Like

    1. Thank you so much, you also have a good eye!

      Like

  13. Oh, interesting that there’s dancing couple of the giant cuckoo clock. Lovely stroll and photographs, Terri, as always.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Yes! There were three sets of dancers, Hazel. Almost life-sized! So cool!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Amazing! Their size isn’t so obvious in the photo.

        Liked by 1 person

  14. Beautiful flowers Terri and they are still looking good despite it being the first week of October. I like the window boxes of trailing flowers/plants … gorgeous!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. So many European streets had tons of flowers! Wait til you the the bicycles adorned in florals, Linda!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. That sounds so picturesque Terri – I’ll look forward to seeing those photos.

        Liked by 1 person

  15. Wow doesn’t even do that collection justice. You took some stunningly beautiful shots, Terri and I for one am so very happy you shared them with us. It’s more than a little amazing to me that they have such a variety still in bloom at this time of year. Great post, and Terri, thank you for keeping the prompt going. xx

    Liked by 1 person

    1. thank you, Pam! I also have some fun photos from Amsterdam of bicycles covered in flowers. I’ll share those soon!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. This I have to see! 🙂 It sounds as if your trip was a resounding success and that you had a really grand time! I’m glad.

        Liked by 1 person

  16. I just love the flower boxes! I remember them when we went to Bavaria in Germany.
    Beautiful flowers my friend.

    FYI… This post did not come up in my WordPress reader. I had to go search for it.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks Nancy! We spend most of our time in the Bavarian region on this trip. Weird about the Reader. While I was gone, I’d seen some commenting issue arise too. Thanks for searching 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  17. Gorgeous displays of flowers! And I love the giant cuckoo clock chalet! I’m here today with the fall color of maple leaves. Glorious Fall Color at Coulon Park – Cats and Trails and Garden Tales

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Susanne, the larger than life cuckoo clock was fun to see!

      Liked by 1 person

  18. Germany looks lovely. What a fun trip you must have had. 💐

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Colleen! It was memorable and eye-opening!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Probably what I went through when I lived in England. It was eye-opening!!

        Liked by 1 person

  19. Wandering Dawgs Avatar
    Wandering Dawgs

    Terri, I love these flowers from Europe. My favorite is the Cuckoo Clock! It takes me back to my senior year of high school when I spent some time in Munich.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Beth! That is so cool you were able to spend time there 😀

      Liked by 1 person

  20. Hi, Terri! 🙋

    The flowers look so awesome! I especially like the big cuckoo and the dancers, and the flowers made it much more beautiful.

    I’m glad, so glad, that the trip went well. Of course, keep us updated about the city! 👍

    Anyway, have a lovely rest of your week! ☺️

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you Aptivi. The Black Forest region of Germany was one of my favorite stops.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. You’re most welcome, Terri. That’s really great! 👍☺️ Would you recommend me to give it a visit someday?

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Thanks! I hope to be there someday. ☺️

        Liked by 1 person

  21. Very fun Terri. The cuckoo clock is something else. I’d forgotten about the dancers! Here’s mine this week: https://grahamsisland.com/2026/10/20/firecrackers/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Graham! The little area we visited there had a lot of nice things to see. I was miffed that some cruisers complained about it all being a tourist trap. Only if you let it!

      Liked by 1 person

  22. […] Some Firecracker flowers amongst banana leaves at Akaka Falls State Park. Posted for Terri’s Flower Hour. See more responses here. […]

    Liked by 1 person

  23. I love the joyous images and beautiful mood of your images, Terri. The hanging flower baskets are marvelous. I love the life-sized cuckoo clock house images. It reminds me of fairy tales looking at them. Thank you for sharing these delightful images from your visit.
    P.S Superb graphic “Terri Webster Schrandt goes to Europe”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks so much, Suzette! You can’t believe that many photos of flowers I captured on our trip! Fairy Tale is a wonderful description!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I can believe it, Terri. What a wonderful gift from your vacation.

        Liked by 1 person

  24. […] These are the only ones left to share with The Flower Hour #53 […]

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  25. […] Terri’s The #Flower Hour #53 – 20 October 2026 –  “A Peek at Flowers in […]

    Liked by 1 person

  26. Those flower boxes are gorgeous though I wonder how much work they are to maintain!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Jacqui! That is a great question!

      Liked by 1 person

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● About Me
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I’m a former university adjunct Professor and retired recreation & parks practitioner living in North-Eastern Washington State near the Idaho border. Second Wind Leisure Perspectives is my blog about living a leisure lifestyle, including photography, friends, fitness, and fun.

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