Sunday 31 August 2014
Dahlia delights
Earlier this year I made a New Year's resolution I knew I would be able to keep. After seeing Sharon from My French Country Home's swoon-worthy photographs of the peachy bloomed Dahlia Cafe au Lait, I decided to put aside my various preconceptions about dahlias and have a go.
I'd always steered away from growing dahlias previously as the varieties I saw were always seemed so garish and artificial looking. I have to admit that there was probably an element of garden snobbery about them as well, although now I have to admit I'm at a loss as to why! Perhaps it's because I think of myself as much more of a billowy gardener and preferring pastel hues to traffic stoppers! But the more I looked around the more I saw that dahlias were beginning to shed their "only for male gardeners of a certain age" reputation and were starting to pop up all over the place.
And I'm very glad they did! I have been out in the garden every evening after work, patiently waiting as the button sized buds swell and became the size of cherry tomatoes, imagining the Mille-feuille-like layers of pastely, peachy pink stuffed into that tiny space - like a ballerina's tutu stuffed into a hat box!
This foray into the world of dahlias has certainly whetted my appetite and I know for sure that there are definitely more tubers on the horizon for my garden!
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Your garden looks lovely. You wouldn't think that it was in the throws of construction, just a matter of months ago! My garden has to be torn up next Spring, due to construction... I hope it bounces back as well as yours.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of people have changed their minds over the past few years re dahlias - they are not the blowsy barmaids of the horticultural world but truly amazing blooms, and these are a delight.
ReplyDeleteMargaret P
I have just bought a cottage and moved to England from Italy and your garden has been a source of inspiration for me as I am a total novice on gardening.
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