OCTOBER

In the garden

We have now had our first frost - it wasn't a bad frost and the weather has turned milder again, but even so it has started us thinking about putting the garden to bed for the winter.

 

 

 

Dahlias are one of the jewels of our cutting garden - producing a seemingly inexhaustable crop of beautiful flowers from late July until the first hard frost.  Often people see them in their gaudy jumble and wistfully say "Oh but I can't keep dahlias in my garden".

I garden in a very wet cold part of the country - we regularly get down to -6 in the winter, last winter it was much colder - and our soil is largely heavy clay.  Yet, each year I only lose about 10% of my dahlia tubers.  I don't lift them, I don't even mulch them very effectively so what is the secret?

Well - I don't know for sure - but my suspiscion is that it is because I am really lazy and don't cut down the stems of my plants until the Spring.  Dahlia stems are hollow and if they are cut down to a neat 6 inches they provide a nice funnel to take all that cold water right down to the tuber.  If, however, the stems are left intact, faded flowers on the top, they are effectively sealed and they protect the tuber.  I may not be right - but it works for me.

Another thing worth knowing is that different dahlias seems to have different hardiness - I find the hardiest to be the very dark red ones - Rip City, Chat Noir, Arabian Night - and the last hardy to be oranges like Julie Jescott. My dahlia beds get more gothic each season

In the workroom

 This summer has been quite mad in the workroom - we went to a few trade shows and now have over 150 stockists in the Uk as well as the odd one elsewhere in the world - our furthest flung is in Tokyo.

I have also brought out a mail order catalogue - beautifully designed by kate Stockwell and with gorgeous photographs by Jane Robertson.

If you would like a copy please e-mail me at snapdragonjane@googlemail.com with your address and I shall pop a copy in the post.
I have also updated the website, made it easier to navigate, and put on some Christmassy (ssshhh)  things as well as my favourite new product - embroidered bottle openers in 3 designs - the ideal gift for the man in your life.

 

 

In the flower shop -

The flower season is now finished and it will be a few weeks before our potted bulbs, door wreaths and so on, are ready.  I have already had a trial run earlier this week when a photographer from Red magazine came to take some photos of me and the airstream caravan.The article will appear in the December issue.

 

This is to publicise the fact that I shall be opening the caravan as a shop on Fridays in December - 10.30 - 3.30 - do come and see us if you can but remember to bring wellies as the path can get quite muddy!  We will have a range of crafts as well as bulbs and door rings.

I hope that you are all having a lovely Autumn

Love

Jane