Dahlia

I've never grown dahlias, but this one arrived unexpectedly in a parcel of gardening things I ordered online from Wilko. I wasn't sure if it was part of an offer or just a mistake; I intended to check, but somehow didn't. Instead, I put it in a deep lily pot, kept it in the greenhouse until the weather warmed up, then moved it to the deck. It's been absurdly easy. I'm thinking I will buy a couple more next year - there are so many wonderful shapes and colours.

Dahlias always make me think of my dad. He was not a really serious dahlia grower, he didn't show them (as many did in the 1960s and seventies), but he was proud of his small collection and took good care of them, and my mum enjoyed their exuberant colour. In August 2011, the summer I stopped teaching, we visited the wonderful gardens of the Villa Taranto, above Lake Maggiore, and the wonderful dahlia collection moved me to tears remembering my father. Since then, they have become fashionable again, and several of my friends enjoy growing them, but it's taken this chance dahlia to convince me I should join in.

It's good to reach the point in the summer where the work in the garden suddenly provides food. Our salad lunch included the first of our Charlotte potatoes, cherry tomatoes, courgettes, broad beans, and basil and parsley. The lettuces and rocket are already over, but more will follow - I've never quite got the hang of sowing sequentially.