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This absolutely stunning Dahlia is growing adjacent to one of the long greenhouses in the kitchen garden. The wall of bright red flowers is impressive and you can’t help but admire it. I thought this colour was also pretty Christmassy so it was the deciding factor in the order of the yarns for the calendar.

There aren’t really very many brambles in Kingston Lacy, but on a visit in September this one caught my eye. I love the red and deep purple berries against the rich green of the foliage. The bush is located at the furthest point from the house, right at the end of the kitchen garden.

In front of the house there are several ornamental stone planters. Their contents change through the seasons. The contrast of the dark purple-red grasses with the silver-green foliage caught my eye in this one, and it was one of the first colourways I decided to dye.

Armenian Cranesbill is a variety of geranium. It has bright magenta flowers with a dark, almost black centre. They are so vivid that I had difficulty getting the dye to come out brightly enough, especially on the BFL, Shetland & Alpaca blend. I’m pretty happy with the result I achieved in the end.

Verbena is another stunning flower that comes in a wide range of colours. From a distance they may not look like much but when you take a closer look you can se how delicate and pretty each tiny individual flower is. This particular plant was along the left of the gravel path leading away from the house.

Phlox comes in pretty much every shade of pink and purple you can imagine. This stunning bright specimen was just one of many impressive flowers on display at the entrance to the kitchen garden.

Moonfire is a type of Dahlia, and I think it’s rather stunning. I found this example in a small formally planted area by the kitchen garden along with lots of other stunning flowers. Everything was so pretty it was difficult to choose which to use for inspiration! As you can see in the photos below there are two similar colourways for this day, one brighter than the other. I had an issue with the paler one where I wasn’t happy… Read More »Kingston Lacy Advent Day 18: Moonfire

Bear’s Breeches have a stunning, tall spike of flowers. You can find these growing alongside the formal lawn at Kingston Lacy. It’s a Mediterranean plant which grows in a clump. While very impressive, the deep root system means that it’s very difficult to get rid of or move once it has established in an area.