Shirley grew some flowers to add to the mass of flowers that were purchased for the wedding. She grew dahlias for the first time.
Now I am not usually a huge fan of garden flowers. I can take them or leave them because I get far more pleasure and satisfaction from growing vegetables and fruit - things that I can eat. However, partly because I had to water the wedding flowers in dry spells I became rather more interested in them.
And the dahlias were the best of all. I noticed their spectacular geometry with each petal part of a precise design meant to attract pollinating insects. It's as if the heads of our dahlias were designed with the aid of a spirograph. Remember them?
By the way, it is interesting to note that all dahlias originated in Mexico where they were first seen by Spanish adventurers in the early sixteenth century. Establishment in European gardens didn't begin until the end of the eighteenth century.
The trouble with flowers is that they do not last very long. They bloom and fade and then they are gone. In that sense, I guess that each flower is a metaphor for human life.
Below - some of our dahlias in the Fred Fox memorial corner of our front room...
How gorgeous! That orange blossom is utter perfection.
ReplyDeleteNature can be utterly magical...if we only stop to look.
DeleteForgetmenots are still my favourite flowers, but dahlias are not far behind. A neigbhour's garden where I walk past every day on my way to work has the most beautiful dahlias growing along the fence. One day I spotted him working in his garden and stopped to tell him how much I enjoyed looking at them every day this time of year. He spontaneously cut me a small bouquet to take home - such a pleasant surprise! Since that little encounter, we always say hello when we come across each other in the street.
ReplyDeleteI bet he was delighted that you told him. Growing dahlias successfully isn't all that easy.
DeleteYes, he was. His garden is a feast for the eyes.
DeleteI forgot to mention earlier that my sister and I loved our spirograph! Friends from France had given it to us for Easter one year when we were little, and it was a great gift - we didn't even argue about it, just sat quietly, drawing away.
I never thought that you and your mysterious sister would ever have argued!
DeleteThey bring so much colour and variety to the garden, I for one love them. What happened to Mr. Fred Fox?
ReplyDeleteI guess that he died in a hedgerow somewhere. The last time I saw him he was in a bad way.
DeleteThose dahlias certainly grab your attention. Those gorgeous colours and they all look so perfect. That vase is ideal to show them off properly too.
ReplyDeleteI was given a spirograph for Christmas one year when I was around 11 years old I think. Great fun.
I bet it kept you out of mischief for a while and gave your parents some blessed relief.
DeleteI am very disappointed to find you have not specified the hypotrochoids which define the shapes of these particular dahlias. Which do you prefer, the curtate or the prolate forms?
ReplyDeleteAye. I just knew that you would be the kind of chap who'd be obsessed with flowers. I bet you are very fond of pansies too.
DeleteSadly nothing to do with a Spirograph. Fibonacci Spiral is what the form takes.
DeleteLoved my spirograph too and love dahlias, the few I have here always attract earwigs and other critters.
ReplyDeleteEarwigs and other critters? It's not a "quiet life" down in Suffolk after all. It's like you are living in an insectarium.
DeleteThose are some spectacular dahlias. They look HUGE! Ours are much smaller, and they're singles so they don't have that same Spirograph effect. (I had a Spirograph when I was a kid and I loved it!)
ReplyDeleteI am exactly the opposite kind of gardener -- I much prefer flowers to food.
I have never tried eating a dahlia. Wonder how you would cook one.
DeleteThey are perfect.
ReplyDeleteIf only humans had also evolved into perfection!
DeleteFairly new to your blog so I've missed the back story on Fred Fox but I'd like to know.
ReplyDeleteSee the top left of this blog Linda? In the "search" box just type in "Fred Fox" and click then you will be able to discover the Fred Fox back story from four years ago.
DeleteI love dahlias and recall my Dad used to grow them a lot. I don't know why I remember this, but they seemed to attract earwigs which would curl up inside the folds and have to be shaken out of the flowers we brought inside. A trick was to stuff scrunched up newspaper into an upturned flowerpot on a cane and place by the plant. The earwigs always went for that instead.
ReplyDeleteEarwigs are one of the few insects where the adults show some parental care, protecting the eggs and nymphs from predators and fungal infections.
DeleteLove dahlias. My mum used to grow them in our/their garden(s) and they were always in bloom for my + my dad's birthday in late August.
ReplyDeleteI am pleased that this post reminded you of those happy days DT.
DeleteHow beautiful! You may have found a new gardening talent.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather tend a fine cabbage Bonnie.
DeleteDahlias remind me of my childhood when they were grown by most folks with flower gardens in our region and were always part of the floral displays at the county exhibition. I didn't care for them at that time but I've come to appreciate them as I get older, to the point where I'd like to try planting my own. Hopefully next year.
ReplyDeleteMy brother and I had many, many hours of enjoyment from our Spirograph. Strangely enough, my kids didn't have much interest in it at all, even though they both enjoyed drawing and quiet play. Maybe they had too many other things to occupy them.
In total, I guess I played with my spirograph for no more than a couple of hours - once I had got over the novelty of it. Good luck with your dahlias! Don't think about it J-o, do it!
DeleteP. S. Your dahlias are beautiful, and even if you don't plant them again next year, you'll have those lovely photos to look back on.
ReplyDeleteIn our garden (which included vegetable plots with a variety of vegetables growing therein - as well as a couple of fruit-bearing trees) dahlias were always among the flowers we grew...chrysanthemum, zinnias, pansies, petunias, roses, various lilies, daisies. I say "we"...it was our mother, and then, as he grew a little older, my brother who were the gardeners. Nana and ne...not so much. Mostly, I think the plants just took care of themselves!
ReplyDeleteI think that Graham and your mama might have disagreed with the final remark.
DeleteNo;e...they wouldn't have. Our mother worked full-time - day and night shifts...she didn't have much spare time to spend gardening. Most things did take care of themselves. Graham was just a little kid, more interested in playing cowboys and Indians with his mates; building trolleys aka go-karts, taking care of his birds and chickens (and teasing me) than spending too much time gardening.
DeleteNo slight by me was intended towards them...just saying it as it was. :)
I , like you, prefer the vegetable garden. But flowers do have their attraction. I have some perennials.
ReplyDeleteYou've got to keep The Micro Manager happy...your very own Yorkshire rose.
DeleteThank you for the wedding coaster which arrived in yesterday's post. Addressed to 'Lady Thelma' ;). There is a lady something in the next village which is always rolled out with some head nodding...
ReplyDeleteI didn't know your surname. Is it Ramsbottom?
DeleteI remember the spirograph well. Man cannot live by food alone.
ReplyDeleteI bet you made some great designs!
Delete