The last weeks of dahlias

Every October we have the same conversation at the bench: how many more weeks? Dahlias stop the moment the frost comes. The leaves turn black overnight and the growers lift the tubers for winter.

Until then they are extraordinary. Cold nights deepen the colour, so the ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ goes from scarlet to something nearer to blood, and ‘Café au Lait’ blushes at the edges. The heads are bigger than in August and the stems are thicker.

If you want them, now is the time. We will keep them in the shop until the morning a grower rings to say the field has gone.