August has arrived since I last updated and the garden has truly come to life, full of dahlia abundance. After weeks of rain, the sun has arrived and pollinators are working hard everywhere I turn.
Biodiversity surrounds us, there is nothing more grounding than immersing yourself in all that activity. Cutting only what I need and allowing the dahlias to go over, opening from picture perfect pom-poms to pollen full resting points for the bees. The succession of foxgloves I planted continue to open and offer more vital opportunities for pollen extraction.
The first bed of dahlias is constantly busting out more blooms, i’ve probably cut 100+ stems in the past fortnight and after a busy weekend I return again to a sea of floating flower heads waiting to be enjoyed.
My sweetpeas have really put on some growth with all that rain and after a slow start in June, have really become quite prolific. I lost my first batch of sweetpeas in late winter to the frosts but that has certainly not spoiled our harvest this year.
The feverfew is lush, buds open, fluffy and full. Already has it been cut for a few weddings this past fortnight and still plenty to go, in my opinion, the perfect filler I couldn’t be without.
The best is yet to come and we still have over 4 beds of dahlias yet to come into flower, what a triumphant way to end the growing season.
As the garden continues to inspire me i’ve started working on a programme of workshops for 2024, from an introduction to successful seed sowing to honing in your sustainable floristry techniques. I’ll keep you posted here on where and how you can book your place and I so can’t wait to see you there! x