Last Vestiges
Reading time 5 minutes
I returned from China to a garden clinging valiantly on to the glories of summer. It was a heart-warming homecoming, but the gift […]
Dahlias
An Extraordinary Autumn
Reading time 8 minutes
There comes a moment every autumn when I leave home and return again under the cover of darkness. Since I have been living full […]
Farewell to the summer of 2018
Reading time 7 minutes
As the sun sets on August, what will be my abiding memories of summer 2018? It goes without saying that the heat and […]
TALES FROM THE GIN & TONIC GARDEN, Part II
Reading time 9 minutes
It’s almost 15 months since the Gin & Tonic Garden first came into being. My compact, 20ft x 20ft courtyard is still occasionally referred […]
Plant Profile: Dahlia ‘Nicholas’
Reading time 5 minutes
I should have predicted it. I take a holiday, I unwind (sort of), and up creeps the dreaded tonsillitis. It happens every time, […]
Launching ‘Project Dahlia’
Reading time 5 minutes
Having completed twenty five years service at John Lewis, ‘Partners’, as we are all known, are rewarded with six months paid leave. I will […]
Dahlia Week: Tips from the Top
Reading time 7 minutes
Last Saturday we were lucky enough to hear from two of the dahlia world’s greatest enthusiasts as part of a Dahlia Festival at The Salutation […]
Dahlia Week: Classy Collerettes
Reading time 2 minutes
Dahlias come in all shapes and sizes. This is why, like other extensively hybridised flowers, dahlias are classified by flower type. There are waterlilies, […]
Dahlia Week: Big and Beautiful
Reading time 4 minutes
When I was a boy, most dahlias looked a little like D. ‘Lady Darlene’. They were bold and brazen, not afraid to be bi-coloured […]
Dahlia Week: Dahlia ‘Waltzing Mathilda’
Reading time 3 minutes
It’s rare that I regret not buying a plant. This is because I scarcely ever resist temptation in the first place. ‘Buy it now, […]
Dahlia Week: Dahlia ‘Happy Halloween’
Reading time 3 minutes
This week The Frustrated Gardener is devoting itself to that dazzling diva of the autumn garden, the dahlia. Since Christopher Lloyd re-ignited our fascination […]
Book Review – The Plant Lover’s Guide to Dahlias
Reading time 6 minutes
“I don’t just like dahlias: I love them” asserts Andy Vernon on the opening page of his new book, The Plant Lover’s Guide to […]