Dahlias!

I am a little bit torn. It is clear that we are about to have a heat wave, and one's chief concern is how best to survive it.  We have installed at some expense, and a good deal of trouble since the first tank imploded, a vast underground reservoir. It takes all the rain water off our extensive roof, and by means of a pump and two taps, it should in theory provide us with enough water for the garden purposes throughout the year. On verra!

But my reason for writing about dahlias, plants that have great need of water, is that there is a connection with my previous blog. I think that I have bred the perfect dahlia. In writing thus I exaggerate my role in the process. Like many people I have long been an admirer of the 'Bishop of Landaff, a plant much loved and popularized by Vita Sackville-West. Two Springs ago I discovered at the foot of my existing plant - I had put some terreau round its base to give it some winter protection, which had I suppose helped germination - a number of seedlings. One of them in my view at any rate, has turned out to be a winner.  Its leaves are not so dark or indeed so finely cut as the parent plant, but the flower is a marvellous clear red, semi-double with a bright yellow centre, but what really makes it a winner is the way in which the flower displays itself, the secret being its reflexed petals. I failed to make cuttings this spring, or indeed to break up the corms, so at the moment it is unique. But next year I will try harder, and if I could only find a nurseryman who shared my enthusiasm for the plant, that would be even better.

That said I should emphasize that the Bishop of Landaff, which a number of nurserymen supply, including Bernard Lacrouts (http://vivacemonde.free.fr), remains an outstanding plant. Moreover, you could buy from, for instance Chilterns Seeds, seeds called the 'Bishop's Children'. These will flower the same year as sown, and share many of the characteristics of the parent plant, that is to say they have more less darkish leaves, some very finely cut, are usually semi-double and vary between very dark purple and bright red. One advantage of all these dahlias is that the plant is not too high - I would guess around 60-80 cms, so that usually they do not need staking, nor are their flowers too large.

I do grow other dahlias. I was taken by Tartarus,which I saw at La Cousiana. It is a large, single flowered  dahlia of a very dark red with a yellow centre, and so acquired along with it four other similar dahlias, though of different colours, from Ernest Turc, who appears to be the French dahlia specialist. I fear that they may be a bit unwieldy, but will report back.

Dahlias appear to do well here, liking our heavy soil, on condition that is that you can provide them with sufficient water. They provide flower power over a long period; mine have started already and will go on until the frosts in late October, though they can get a bit tatty.  Other flowers that share many of the dahlias characteristics - long flowering season, very bright colours - some would say too bright - are the zinnias. Since my beds are not sufficiently well-tended I cannot sow them direct which is the recommended procedure, but I have found that sowing them in seed trays, pricking them out, etc, works well enough, though water in the early stages is vital - afterwards they resist drought well enough, and certainly better than the dahlias. I would not be without them, and amongst other things they are good for picking, since the flowers last a long time in water.

Meanwhile the great excitement here has nothing to do with the garden, but with the discovery in our valley of Purple Emperors, providing me with my first sighting of these wonderful butterflies. Perhaps I should also mention the arrival of two kittens - Barrack and Obama - who have managed to dominate our three dogs, and myself in a very short space of time.