I dream of dahlias

I have been out and about gathering gardening ideas for next year.

With the roses gradually dwindling

I'm looking for something to fill their boots.

So I took a trip with my parents yesterday to Gilberts Dahlias in Romsey Hampshire.

I have been  with them once before

but nothing prepares you for the awesome view that awaits.

This is not your usual dahlia buying experience.

These dahlias are huge and stunning.

Much fun is had marching up and down the aisle trying to choose

falling in love at every turn.

My Dad has begun showing dahlias at a local village show

so he was looking for show stoppers.

I likened his choosing to crufts.

 Marys Jomanda, Kate Mountjoy

Something Ballerina, Edinburgh

I was looking for something more me!

These are my choices.....I know kinda purpley again.

I don't yet own these beauties,

the service Gilberts offer is a £2.50 rooted cutting in spring.

So I have a year to wait (argghhhh)

and a year to work out just where I can squeeze them into my garden!!

If you love dahlias and just want to be awed

get yourself down to Gilberts

they do have dahlias to purchase 

and a tea room to ponder in..

just don't leave it too late

orders must be in before December.

patchwork 'n' love

 With my new pace of sewing when the mood takes me

I will hopefully return to writing about what I'm loving.

   In the crazy world of quilting it's all too easy to lose sight of 

the whats and the whys;

and get caught up in the sewing of patchwork

and forget the passion.

Just because you say I could make that 

shouldn't stop you from buying.

If like me you REALLY love patchwork

then appreciating each others work is not a chore.

I sit next to this vintage patchwork cushion everyday

 I didn't make it but I do LOVE it.

 **

I know what you're thinking right?

Whats that fabulous cuff on her wrist and where did she get it?

Actually it was a surprise* gift from Susan aka Patchwork n Play

who is equally if not more passionate about patchwork.

And yes if I had seen this for sell in a shop

it would have been mine.

Thank you Suz

you know me so well!

*more to follow!
**pardon the shameful display of legs!

in an English country garden..

clematis comtesse de bouchard

achillea wild eve

I have an uncanny knack of choosing plants of a similar colour

and then planting them next to each other.

It's not something I'm proud of!

On my return from anywhere away

my first port of call is always the garden...

even at 11pm like this year.

Well I discovered a shrubby green welcome

something which had to be fixed.

With birthday money in hand

I set about buying mainly lilac things,

which wasn't my intention...but hey ho!

 delphinium 

As you know I lost all my lupins during the hard winter,

so I thought I would try delphiniums.

And I have to say I'm a convert.

The problem with lupins lovely though they are,

when the flowering is over you are left with a large mound of 

uninspiring leaves; not so with delphiniums.

This plant was eaten by slugs in spring

but look at her now!

I think I shall go for some darker blue ones next year

now that I know they grow so lovely.

 cosmos

If you grow anything from seed

grow cosmos.

They produce lovely strong seedlings and flower all summer.

I am in love with this one

which came from a mixed packet.

discovery

There are a lot of fallers this year,

which I leave some out for the birds.

It is one of the first things we planted 

I just wish we had done some research however

as the apples do not keep.

Not the best discovery!

 buddleia royal red

The joy of  a largish garden

means I get to create largish amounts of mess!

It does also mean I can move things about,

something that I get a lot of stick about.

(especially from my Mum)

I tell people that the plants outgrow each other,

but truth be told 

I don't know what I'm doing

and I'm always changing my mind!

 larkspur

Shopping for plants is an addiction

so I get to know a plants worth.

The buddleia for example in the last picture

was £4.99 from the range

I had previously seen it selling for £10 and upwards!

The larkspur was an even better bargain

Four packets of seeds for 99p!!

This is my first time growing it.

Its the same family as the delphinium

but grown as an annual.

Not bad for 25p!

 lavandula alba

From new to old.

This lavender which is white and not purple

is festooned every year with bumble bees.

I'm not sure why they love this particular one

but it is quite pungent.

I may not have a showy garden

but I do have a buzzy one

which is what I was aiming for.....

....just dont let me buy any more lilac plants please!!

eternal sunshine of a spotless mind

Now I know I have said my favourite hangout is in an art gallery..

but who doesn't love a beach?

For me a beach is a natural art gallery

where the artwork is free.

Whether it be the salty sea air or the wide expansive horizon

philosophical thinking always creeps into my mind.

Lately I have been much more interested in the person behind the blog

and not what the latest fabric must have is.

My most recent encounter is a lovely uplifting lady called Connie.

Who blogs from the heart and signs her name your blogging sister Connie,

which somehow makes her human and not just another blogger.

Connie is a big fan of France 

so I was dismayed to read that although she loves France

she will probably never get to visit....

and here we were about to embark on a 3 week trip.

So this is for you Connie.

You may never get to walk on a beach in France

but your spirit will always wander.

Give a creatively starved girl a stick and a blank canvas....

 *just noticed the doggy paw prints!

 * Ile D'Oleron

This morning my winter robin has made an appearance

which means that autumn must be round the corner.

The older I get the faster the years roll by...

the coast has a way of slowing life down,

moments last for minutes

which is good.

I am therefore taking a new approach to my sewing

Hence-forth I am now on a go slow sew.

Your blogging sister

lost in translation..

There is a story here somewhere....

I just wish I knew how to put it together?

1. Lady playing Amelie tunes outside the Sacre Coeur

2. Love locks on a bridge in Paris

3. Me before I lost it*

4. Moi

5. Drawing in the sand is much like epp

once you start you cannot stop!

* if you find it can you please send it back to me?

 

ps. Secretly wishing I was the lady in pic 1.

pps. sand drawing is highly under rated

express yourself!