I think we need a bit of colour after the last couple of days of the most awful, wet and windy weather, don't you? I know very little about Dahlias and have never grown them and if I'm honest have never really taken much notice of them but the ones we saw on Saturday were delightful and just what was needed to lift the spirits after last week's miserable weather - and this without even knowing what awful weather we would be subject to on Sunday and Monday!
The weather reporters said that Saturday would be a dry and sunny day and so it proved.
We always always try and visit the Dorothy Clive Gardens at least once each year. When we lived closer to the gardens in a small village on the way to Market Drayton we used to buy a season ticket but since we moved into the city we don't visit as regularly. For some reason we hadn't got round to visiting this year, again probably due to the awful spring and summer weather, so on Saturday it was time to rectify that.
I'm hoping I'm right when I say that all
these different flowers in their various colours and shapes
some with tightly closed petals and some with more open or spiky petals
are Dahlias, please let me know if they aren't!
There were other forms of wildlife in the garden too!
At last after waiting most of the summer we saw butterflies
lots of them!
also a cat on a mission - I wonder what she was watching so intently?
and a Chester rhino called Blossom! She was designed by artist Sarah Jane Richards, who took her inspiration from the beautiful gardens of Cheshire, for the 'Rhino Mania' rhino trail held in Chester two years ago.
Ah, dahlias - I love them. They went out of vogue for years but now they're back in fashion. Love your photos of them. We too spotted numerous butterflies on Saturday. The weather here is rotten - although we have a glimpse of sunshine every now and again it is the rain that is most dominant!
ReplyDeleteHave a good week,
June
Hope you have a good week too! Let's hope for a few more sunny days for the butterflies. It's not looking too hopeful at the moment:)
DeleteHow pretty! I've missed so much Dahlias in my garden this year, they got devoured by common earwigs :(
ReplyDeleteI'm slightly concerned about the weather this Autumn..the weatherman says October will be quite warm and in November we will get some snow! Such crazy weather..that's why "it has never got married!" (old saying)
Hope you can still spend some time outdoor this week!
x
Ugh! Earwigs! I've never know a year like it for weather - I like the old saying:)
DeleteDahlias are such happy looking flowers! I wonder why they ever went out of fashion? I am glad that you had a nice day out and were able to experience some dry and sunny weather. x
ReplyDeleteThey do make you smile don't they?:)
DeleteI love Dahlias but I don't much much about the either. Some I know definitely are and I think they're lovely flowers but I was wondering the same, at Biddulph Grange on Saturday, along the dahlia walk there - are all those different looking flowers dahlias? I assumed so! I love the dahlia garden at Tissington Hall too. I've never been to Dorothy Clive, though it's been on my 'list' for a few years!
ReplyDeleteThe DC gardens are particularly lovely at this time of year but they are spectacular when the rhododenrons and azeleas are out in May/June:)
DeleteThe rhino just fascinates me. I find it very appealing.
ReplyDeleteIt is cute isn't it? There were quite a few made for the trail and dotted around the city of Chester. I wonder what happened to the others?:)
DeleteI gave my sedums the 'Chelsea Chop' so they've come out quite late this year (but also really compact, not floppy at all). All of a sudden the borders are just brimming with butterflies. When it's not raining that is..
ReplyDeleteUsually the sedums are covered with butterflies at this time of year. Must try the 'Chelsea Chop' as they get very straggly as they are dying off:)
DeleteI had no idea that Dahlias came in so many shapes and colour-ways. What a pretty display! Jx
ReplyDeleteThere were so many different ones I began to wonder if they really all where Dahlias - they were very cheerful:)
DeleteDahlias are so versatile, I will plant some in pots to fill gaps in the borders next year, and then you don't have to dig them up in winter.
ReplyDeleteWhat a super idea! I may try that too:)
DeleteI have a good friend who named her charming baby girl... you guessed it... Dahlia.
ReplyDeleteThe name suits her perfectly.
xo,
p
How lovely - I hope she is bright and cheerful too. The only Dahlia I've heard of is Bertie Wooster's Aunt Dahlia:)
DeleteI do love dahlias they bring such colour to the garden - unfortunately this year I didn't have any due to the fact that they rotted over winter. I do miss them. Maybe next year I will have better luck.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame you lost all your dahlias. I may try to grow some next year:)
DeleteI just love dahlias! I have them in both the front and back garden. They are not doing as well this year as last due to the weather I think. But they bring a smile to my face each time I see them. It took me moving here for them to work. In my last garden, the slugs would eat the bulbs so that there was nothing left.
ReplyDeleteSorry I have not been around. Life is very busy as I plan a big Halloween High tea party for my quilt group. I am making them all a quilted surprise which is taking a good deal of my time. Reading time is lacking at the moment as well as time to quilt, crochet or stitch for myself.
Hugs from Holland ~
Heidi
Lovely to see you here, Heidi. Life can get very busy can't it? Your Halloween High Tea sounds wonderful, I hope you all have a great time:)
DeleteThey certainly look like dahlias to me. The first year we grew dahlias I cut them enthusiastically and put a vase of them on my dining table. Imagine my horror when I returned to find the table alive with earwigs! Dahlias stay in the garden now!
ReplyDeleteOh, no - earwigs are quite unpleasant aren't they? I think if I grow some next year they will stay in the garden:)
ReplyDelete