It's the day of the village agricultural show and the paper-covered benches of the produce marquee are lined with cakes and jellies, honey, eggs and marrows. But it's the explosion of colour that dominates the display, as huge blooms of dahlias are supported singly in glass jars. The most perfect specimens have a red card in front of them - a prized 'First' in their class.
Tall and flamboyantly coloured, these stars of the village fête and plant show are an unmissable late-summer staple of cottage gardens, humble allotments and grand stately homes alike. Dahlias draw visitors to country gardens in early autumn, including thriller-writer Agatha Christie's collection at her Greenway garden - now managed by the National Trust - beside the River Dart in Devon. You may even spot fields full of them, grown for the cut-flower industry.
Quintessentially British? In a way, and yet dahlias originate on the other side of the world - in the mountainous regions of Mexico.
SHAPE-SHIFTER
The first wild dahlias arrived in Europe in the late 18th century, sent from Mexico by a Spanish plant-finding expedition back to Madrid's Royal Botanic Gardens. Named in honour of Swedish botanist Andreas Dahl (1751-1789), dahlias were introduced to England shortly after.
Botanists and gardeners soon found that these few wild dahlia species had a remarkable property: they hybridised readily when grown from seed, producing spectacular new varieties that differed wildly in appearance, in colour, shape and size. Two hundred years or so later and the number of dahlia varieties is staggering: there are more than 50,000 named cultivars, all produced through the crossing of two or three of those original species from Mexico. Some reached outlandish proportions, bred to enormous size - great flamboyant dinner plates of floral exuberance.
FALL AND RISE
Esta historia es de la edición September 2022 de BBC Countryfile Magazine.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición September 2022 de BBC Countryfile Magazine.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Guilt-Free Meat? - Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians
Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians. Livestock farming around the world is facing scrutiny because of its greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, the sector contributes somewhere between 11.1% and 19.6% of total emissions. Meat production is roughly twice as bad as the production of plant-based food, according to some analyses. And beef is the worst of all. Study after study has suggested that, in order to curtail the devastating effects of climate change, we ought to shift to a diet containing less meat - or even go vegetarian or vegan.
Discover Cider Country - Explore mellow golden countryside, pedalling between medieval villages, historic inns and fruitful orchards, on a delightful Herefordshire Cider Circuit adventure with Julie Brominicks
Explore mellow golden countryside, pedalling between medieval villages, historic inns and fruitful orchards, on a delightful Herefordshire Cider Circuit adventure with Julie Brominicks. I'm cycling Porter's Perfection, one of three cider circuits developed for Visit Herefordshire over the past few years. Each showcases a section of this bucolic county's loveliest villages, pubs, orchards and cidermakers via lanes suited to bicycles - e-bikes for hill-averse cyclists like me. The idea is to allow you to appreciate the sights, sounds and smells of cider country while traversing roads never meant for modern cars. If you have dodgy knees, or are keen to indulge in the local adult apple juice as you go (remember, it's illegal to cycle while under the influence), Visit Herefordshire also promotes cider bus routes.
TOP 10 WILD AUTUMN FOODS
Make the most of seasonal abundance with foraging tips and recipe ideas from wild food expert Liz Knight
The taste of England
Amid pastures farmed by her family for more than four centuries, Mary Quicke is reviving forgotten dairy traditions to produce delicious Devon cheeses
How to eat 30 plants a week
As science proves the many health-boosting benefits of eating at least 30 different plants each week, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall shares recipes to help you meet the magic target
RARE RAFT SPIDER MAKES A COMEBACK
Thanks to dedicated conservation work, this impressive but vulnerable arachnid is resurgent in East Anglia
SPECTACULAR STONEHENGE FINDS
Following the latest astonishing revelation about the Stonehenge Altar Stone's Scottish origins, Dixe Wills looks at recent discoveries that have changed the way we view this impressive and enigmatic Neolithic monument
GALLOWAY NATIONAL PARK DEBATE
Would this protected status bring welcome recognition and attention - or overcrowding and problems for farmers?
Farmers are valued, so why do they feel we don't care?
For farmers out in their fields in all seasons, worried about the future as dramatic levels of rainfall blamed on climate change damage their crops, inflation and uncertainty push up their costs and what they see as unfair imports threaten their livelihoods, here's a spot of unexpectedly good news: the rest of us think you are doing a good job.
Pumpkin patches
Find the perfect jack-o'-lantern for Halloween at a pick-your-own pumpkin patch. Some are simple affairs in tranquil countryside; others offer activities ranging from ghost trains to spooky mazes.
