Silent Sunday: delightful dahlias

Tags

beautiful flowers, buy local, cactus dahlias, coral coloured flowers, Dahlias, grown not flown, Silent Sunday

Wordless Wednesday: dahlia time

Tags

Dahlias, every shade of pink, grown at work by me, sorry comments are off., wordless wednesday

Silent Sunday: flower shopping, Dutch style

Tags

allium sphaerocephalon. Symphoricarpos, bike, Dahlias, Delft, flower market, September, Silent Sunday, snowberry, the Netherlands, two wheels are better than four

Saturday smile: six bishops

Tags

bishop of llandaff, bishop of Oxford, bishop of York, Dahlias, March, Saturday smile, Woottens of Wenhaston

It is not often that you get six bishops under one roof at the same time, well certainly not in my house. There is perhaps a joke in there somewhere. Anyway.

These are my bishops: bishop of Llandaff, bishop of Oxford and bishop of York. Purchased from Woottens.

The bishops arrived safe and sound in net bags, sadly plastic but I shall reuse them in the winter when I lift the dahlias for safe store.

They were provided with clearly labelled plastic labels, useful whilst in pots but unlikely to be refused.

Each tuber resembles a weird bunch of desiccated brown bananas. Dry and firm they are ready for immediate planting.

I have gently placed the tubers in some fresh compost in plastic pots, making sure the stalk from last season is just poking above the compost. A little water and that’s it. Pop them under glass and wait.

Hey presto.

Well actually a bit more is needed to be done but it is simple. Keep them frost free, that’s essential.

Keep them warm and damp, not sopping wet.

Once the risk of frost has gone, plant them out in good garden compost, in a sunny spot. Stake them, feed them with a general garden fertiliser and Bob’s your uncle.

Lots of fab flowers until the end of Autumn.

Worth waiting for. Do give them a go if you have never grown them before. D.

Friday 3 November 2017

Tags

Dahlias, frost, Petersham Nursery, Thank goodness it's Friday

We had a cold night earlier this week, and a sharp frost took all my dahlias.  Although disappointing it was inevitable for this time of year. Without further ado I chopped back the evil looking, black foliage and mulched over the crowns. Three are to be relocated and those were dug up and placed under a fleece blanket in the garage in order that they can dry out and be saved for next year. 

Yesterday I visited the very attractive Petersham Nursery. London weather is milder than in my garden and so Petersham Nursery was untouched and their dahlias were still looking beautiful. Here are a few pretty snaps from the day.  

One for the cat lovers:

And for the foodies, how about this for presentation:

Bangers and mash don’t quite cut this in this looks department, do they. 
Have a good day.

Friday 3 November 2017

Tags

Dahlias, frost, Petersham Nursery, Thank goodness it's Friday

We had a cold night earlier this week, and a sharp frost took all my dahlias.  Although disappointing it was inevitable for this time of year. Without further ado I chopped back the evil looking, black foliage and mulched over the crowns. Three are to be relocated and those were dug up and placed under a fleece blanket in the garage in order that they can dry out and be saved for next year. 

Yesterday I visited the very attractive Petersham Nursery. London weather is milder than in my garden and so Petersham Nursery was untouched and their dahlias were still looking beautiful. Here are a few pretty snaps from the day.  

One for the cat lovers:

And for the foodies, how about this for presentation:

Bangers and mash don’t quite cut this in this looks department, do they. 
Have a good day.

In a Vase on Monday: petals

Tags

Cosmos sonata dwarf, Dahlia Labyrinth, Dahlias, in a vase on Monday, rose a shropshire lad

The wind is getting up as predicted. I suspect like many of you I spent a large part of the day yesterday in the garden. I picked these precious last few flowers.

How delicate petals seem at this time of year. Too soft and gentle to withstand rough weather. Too colourful, too pretty, against other plants which are drying out and brown. On my kitchen window sill sits a pot of Burts Bees almond and milk hand cream, it brought to mind an old TV advert for a certain cream where a brown dried out leaf sprang back to life. Now imagine if that were possible. 

Other petals are these Cosmos dahlias and roses. 

So colourful. 

So delicate. 

Pretty

This is Dahlia Labyrinth.

Let’s hope the weather is not too drastic. Pop over to Cathy to see what other vases are around this week. There are sure to be plenty of lovely flowers to see. 

In a Vase on Monday: Bank holiday snips

Tags

bank holiday monday, calendula, Dahlia Arabian Night, Dahlia mignon.mixed, Dahlias, in a vase on Monday, Verbena bonariensis

I hope you have had a good long weekend, the weather has certainly been lovely.  I almost forgot it was Monday. 

As I write this post at 8pm the colours of the flowers I picked are a bit like the sky this evening. 

Red sky at night….

Shepherds delight. Well Doris’s delight with these colours. Now if you haven’t done so already, pop over to Cathy. You know the drill. I suspect tomorrow I am going to be feeling Monday -ish for a Tuesday. 

In a Vase on Monday: crystal and velvet

Tags

crystal, Dahlia Arabian Night, Dahlias, in a vase on Monday, velvet

Before dashing around trying to get a flat sorted I picked some of my favourite dahlias. This deep dark burgundy flower is gorgeous. It has a pleasing depth of colour and a texture which appears like velvet. I can imagine a fabric in this colour and texture, a smoking jacket and draping trousers. 

In this crystal creamer it rather brings to mind the C word. You know the one, Christmas. 

I suppose I should tell you which dahlia it is, Arabian Night. Now take look over at Cathy s lovely blog to feast your eyes on vases full of home grown flowers. 

Have a good week.

In a vase on Monday: seeking shade

Tags

Achillea, Alchemilla mollis, Cosmos, Dahlia mignon.mixed, Dahlias, David Austin Roses, in a vase on Monday, poppy seed heads, Rose The Pilgrim, turquoise milk glass

 

 

All sorts

The heat is building up over the next couple of days and already the dog is flaked out on the cool flagstone floor.

I grabbed a few of the last roses, this one is The Pilgrim from David Austin. A buttery yellow old style rose with a strong rose fragrance I do like it but find that the weight of the blooms cause it to flop over. A chop to shorten the stem ensures the heads are supported by the sides of the glass. To the rose I have added yellow/ lime coloured Alchemilla mollis and Achillea which fades from dark to pale pink. 

In a turquoise glass jug I have put the strong pink coloured Cosmos with more of the Alchemilla mollis and Achillea.  I have also added the seed heads of a few poppies.

More Alchemilla has been added to the small Dahlia mignon.  This overwintered in the cutting bed which I am very pleased about.  Finally I have a few of the tiniest Dahlia which I chose because I do love the look of a daisy.

 

So there you have it folks my vases for Monday.  Do take a look at Cathys lovely blog https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com to see some more Monday vases, certainly more cheerful than world news.