By Isle of Wight Observer
IW Observer gardening expert, Darren Everest, took a van full of his dahlias to the National Dahlia Society Show at the RHS Wisley Gardens last week – and came back with a handful of awards.
Despite some poor weather and many of his blooms running late due to the cool summer temperatures, Darren was able to pick plenty of flowers.
Although he wasn’t happy with his selection, by the time he got to stage the blooms they had improved. He ended up winning five championship trophy classes, runner-up in another, and he won a silver and bronze medal for the Best Vase of Waterlily Dahlias and runner-up to Best Vase.
Over the last few years, Darren has built a strong reputation for growing award-winning miniature flowered dahlias and this year was no exception.
Darren won the Miniature Decorative Championship, Miniature Cactus Championship and Miniature Championship. He was runner-up in the Miniature Ball Championship. He also won the Waterlily Championship and the Medium Semi Cactus Championship as well as the Society Class for the Freshwater Horticultural Society.
Darren said: “It has been a strange season with many varieties running late due to the weather. I was really struggling to find enough blooms and didn’t think they looked that good when I cut them. Like all my other shows this year, there’s been a high amount of luck involved!”
