Tuesday 20 August 2013


With two minutes to choose a book as I ran for a bus that I really didn't want to miss yesterday morning, I grabbed one that couldn't have been more perfect - because the heroine's name is Dahlia, and I was off to Wisley where I saw some splendid specimens in the dahlia trials. Dahlia trials sound wonderfully cheering, don't you think ... here's Bishop of Llandaff in the lead, but Lismore Willie is on his tail and Alva's Doris,  the favourite, doesn't like the going today ...

And, yes, I realise I got off the wrong foot by starting with a picture of echinacea but they were splendid, too. 



I ate my sandwiches in the orchard under a nut tree and gasped in admiration over fuzzy peaches and the fattest blackberries I've ever seen (there was a blackberry trial, too) and shiny aubergines ...

And borders that zinged with colour. A perfect day in a perfect garden.

6 comments:

Penny O'Neill said...

Perfect, indeed. How I wish I was there - and how I loved your Dahlia opening.

mary said...

Hello, Penny. I think something must have been guiding my hand - after all, how many books feature a Dahlia!

callmemadam said...

The work that goes into keeping those Wisley borders perfect! The garden lives up to its aim of being a centre of excellence.

mary said...

I've never seen such perfection, Callmemadam. Makes you realise that the National Trust is only the B team!

Cosy Books said...

So was there any chance of a sneaky peach for dessert or were they strictly off limits, Mary?

mary said...

Tempting, Darlene - but I don't have the sangfroid for a life of crime!