Back in England, we got out and about to enjoy the beginning of autumn in England. Charlotte and I took a trip to Anglesey Abbey with Paul's mom to see what flowers were in bloom at this time of year. We weren't disappointed -- it was peak time for dahlias! (Pronounced "dahh-lee-a" in the US; "day-lee-a" in the UK, as we found out.) We enjoyed walking through the birch forest and seeing swans swimming in the canal near the mill before coming upon the dahlia garden. It is arranged in a "rainbow" of colors, with a variety of different shaped flowers plotted in gradually shifting shades. I loved the "ball" shaped ones best -- like perfect little globes!
We also enjoyed seeing the gardeners trimming the hedges back into shape -- it is a very precise job requiring levels, plumb lines, and marker strings. They use this mobile scaffolding to work on small areas at a time. Obviously, the hedge behind the scaffold has been trimmed, and the hedge closer to the forefront of the picture needs some work! There are miles of hedges at just this one National Trust site -- what a huge project that needs doing every year.
We enjoyed some differently colored dahlias in another formal garden area before heading to see how the roses were faring. When we were last at Anglesey Abbey in May, the roses were about to bloom. Amazingly, 4 months later, there were still many roses in beautiful bloom. Paul's mom was in heaven and explained the different types of roses to me. Charlotte loved sniffing the roses and saying "mm! mm!" as we wandered the area. The trees weren't quite turning color yet, but the sun has definitely begun shifting toward the southern horizons and the shadows are more pronounced in the mid-afternoon at this time of year. As I write this (in mid-October), we are currently losing about 30 minutes of daylight per week. Heading for the long nights of winter...
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| The manor house at Anglesey Abbey |
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