Dahlia Delays

The best things come to those who wait, as Toby reflects on the deferred delights of some pretty shy perennials…

- Toby Buckland

IF someone says that your curtains, carpets or kitchen worktops are ‘unusual’, what they’re really saying is that they find them unspeakably tasteless. I know this because, as a teenager, my mum used the same word about my fashion sense. What’s ‘unusual’ about dressing like a dandy highwayman?

Imagine my irritation, then, when a ‘so-called’ friend used the same word about my dahlias. Sure, the iridescent pink pom-poms of cactus flowered ‘Orfeo’ are extraordinary, but the only thing that’s odd is how late they’ve come into flower.

This year, all my tall dahlias have been like buses and kept me waiting, only to arrive all at once – and I’m not alone…