After a really great trip away in Cornwall, I was also pleased to get back home to my garden here in Brighton…

Everything seems to have grown massively so the next few days will involve a lot of cutting back.

When I was in Cornwall this time, I popped in to Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens again to buy some more succulents and have a cup of tea.

Dahlias were everywhere, and I love dahlias, much to the chagrin of my mother…

When I turned 30 she asked me what I’d like for my birthday and I said 30 different dahlias…she refused, saying that they were too vulgar!! 

When I was in hospital giving birth to my son, I took a picture of a dahlia, stuck it to the wall and stared at it over many long, difficult hours…and when I was 8 years old we had to paint them at school; I’d never seen them before and was captivated.

So dahlias have always been on the edges of my life, but only this year have I managed to produce more than one flower of my own!

I hadn’t anticipated that completely amazing dahlias would be on every table in the cafe…

…and when I bought a bunch, the woman told me that they were from the National Dahlia Collection just down the road!

I was so excited as I’d never realised that it was so close.

When we got there it was deserted, but I definitely managed to indulge my dahlia love…

There were a few signs of human life, but to be honest it was great to have the place to myself and not feel inhibited with my dahlia frenzy…

When we got back I arranged my bunch, but as we were leaving the next day, I had to take them with me, even though I was stopping off in Warwickshire overnight…

So the dahlias travelled 6 hours in the car, were briefly revived in one of my sister-in-law’s vases overnight, and then had another 3 hours in the car before they landed on The Table in Brighton.

A little worse for wear but still alive, I put them into a vase, picked one of my own from the garden, arranged the not so lucky heads of a couple that had wilted beyond repair…and made a cup of tea!