Day 206: sun loving dahlias

Daily details from the garden to bring you inspiration throughout the year

Dahlia ‘Penhill Watermelon’ making the most of the sun

Dahlia ‘Penhill Watermelon’ making the most of the sun

Summer in the garden – confoundingly warm, days spent working in the flowerbeds a kind of blur, a skin prickling, water swigging hot mess of a gardener. The dahlias soak it all in, feet well down into generously manured soil over flinty clay, faces turned toward the North Downs. It’s pretty exposed up here, but Mexico seems to make its daisies of strong stuff, and I can’t help wishing I could look half so poised under the searing sun. Blooms are numerous but smaller this year, something which additional watering will help rectify, as will pruning out the side shoots. But that’s more for our own enjoyment – the dahlias are happy as they are.


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Hello! I’m Andrew, gardener, writer, photographer, and owner of a too-loud laugh, and I’m so pleased you’ve found your way to Gardens, weeds & words. You can read a more in-depth profile of me on the About page, or by clicking this image.

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