The Christmas Day Dahlia

25/12/2013

Most of my dahlias are safely out of the ground and tucked up in pots in their shed for the winter. Those that I’ve left in the ground have been given a deep covering of cow manure to protect them from the frost. All, that is, except for the tree dahlias, which are impervious to the early frosts and will carry on flowering until well into the new year. The first few weeks of winter this year has been pretty horrid, with a series of sharp frosts and some hefty storms, but that hasn’t deterred the tree dahlias, which have continued to thrive.

The best performer has been the D. Excelsa, pictured here on Christmas Day. This particular plant is one of half a dozen cuttings taken in May this year. All are strong and healthy, and will outperform the more popular D. Imperialis, which, although much taller, has not got enough strength to flower outdoors this year. The last time it achieved that feat in my garden was after the long hot summer in 2006, when it came into flower on December 6th.

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About Slow Life

The idea of Slow Life is to take the principles of Slow Food, which are “good, clean and fair”, and extend them to life in general.

Here in the Lake District, the air is clean, the pace is slow and the atmosphere is calm. If we don’t grow food ourselves, we can buy it in friendly small shops, where you know the quality is going to be the best.

This blog is a celebration of the Slow Life, with forays into the world of design, music, the arts, gardens, and my particular weakness, Japan.