The start of the year signals my gardening obsession returning. So, all my seed packets have arrived and at some point I’ll log them onto an Excel spreadsheet (the only opportunity I allow myself for super-nerdy listing – those vegetables and flowers need a schedule dude). And I have a stack of raspberry canes, asparagus crowns, strawberry plants, and other bits and pieces arriving over the course of the next two months.
But my current big focus, and I don’t know why, is dahlias. Like my grandfather before me, I can’t get enough of them. They’re totally unscented, earwigs clamber all over them and cause non-chemical hippy types like me no end of pain, aqnd their leaves are as dull as ditchwater, unless you happen to have a cultivar with that fashionably dark quality. But their flamboyant 70s glamour always thrills me. They were the talk of the allotment last year, and everyone wanted to know what I was growing. Well, everyone is a bit of hyperbole, but there you go. I’m boasting.
So, in the spirit of summer, here’s some borrowed images of a few of my current favourites:
Lover Boy, image courtesy of dahliabarn.com
Downham Royal, courtesy of Sarah Raven
Rip City, courtesy of Amazon
Jocondo, courtesy of Arrowhead Dahlias
Chat Noir, courtesy of Sarah Raven
Pontiac, courtesy of Sarah Raven
New Baby, courtesy of Sarah Raven
I’m growing about 50 varieties. I know – I’m excessive.
And in the spirit of managing excess, alongside a desire to spread the love (I celebrate seventeen years with Matthew today), I’m clearing out a few of my perfumes that, though loved, are now never worn. You don’t need to send anything in return (although gifts are most welcome…): this is more to clear out some space, freshen up, tidy the bathroom.
The bottles I have to give away are as follows:
Eau d’Italie Bois d’Ombrie 100mls hardly used;
L’Artisan Parfumeur Dzing! 50mls – about 70% full;
L’Artisan Parfumeur Voleur de Roses 50 mls – about 70% full;
Hermes Rocabar 100mls – about 85% full:
Patricia de Nicolai Vetyver 30mls – hardly used.
Leave a comment if you’re interested in a bottle, alongside wild promises of gifts in return. The wild promises will be dutifully ignored and bottle winners selected entirely at random. I’ll let you know in two weeks time.
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