In Praise of Dahlias

Just before lockdown we bought two tall containers from the Arley Hall nursery, with a view to getting some plants later. Then lockdown happened.

Fast forward to the end of the national lockdown, but us still shielding. We didn’t have enough containers, and we had no plants to plant.

To the rescue, online ordering at Bluebell Cottage Garden, and a visit to Arley Hall nursery. When Arley Hall opened I rang the nursery to ask if I could visit before opening time. They said that was fine. I bought two more tall containers and asked - what will work in these. Dahlias were suggested, so here we are.

This week Dahlia number 4 has flowered, and it’s fabulous, So we now have all four dahlia in flower and know what they all look like. For my own record, checking of the labels shows that we have (clockwise from top left) “apricot desire”, “nuits d’eté”, “arabian night” and “worton blue streak”.