Well we’ve crossed into Autumn and I just pulled the last fat decaying bloom of the Café au Lait dahlia. The flowers reminded me of a thickset opera soprano as they make such a statement and never quite fit in with the rest of the planting.

One of the ‘decorative dahlias’ with large, flat-tipped petals, beginning milky white but as summer progressed the coffee centres were more obvious

Next year, if the tuber makes it through over wintering storage, I’ll pot this diva up as a feature plant The blooms are ideal too for the Japanese flowering arranging technique of Ikebana, which I’m trying to grasp.

It’s autumn, the air is clear
and you hear death music—the rattle of leaves swirling

At the market, the green, red and yellow apples are piled high,
…and here too, people throng around the dahlias—
the last of the bright fat flowers. Open. Scentless.

^{Patricia Spears Jones ~ Autumn, New York, 1999}

Here’s hoping we can all find joy in kicking up leaves and enjoying the fruits of the year