Anglesey Abbey Dahlia Festival

Today, as we had done at the start of September last year (see here) and the year before (see here) we had a trip to visit the Anglesey Abbey Dahlia Festival.

This was the invite from Joyce...

"Wednesday August 25th an early morning treat at Anglesey Abbey. Quy Road, Lode, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB25 9EJ. Free to National Trust members or £10 for non-members. We will meet at 9.30am for an early coffee in the National Trust restaurant and then explore the gardens, Hoe Fen and famous Dahlias. I expect to be finished by 11.30am."

We went first thing to avoid the crowds and were surprised to find it raining lightly. So we started with a cup of coffee. Here are a few of my photos....

 We posed with the dahlia hoop garland for a group picture. For once it is not me behind the camera.

The houses isn't open at the moment, but we weren't here to visit it.

The rose garden was looking lovely.

In places, though, the roses had been replaced with annual planting as part of a trial to combat Rose Replant Disease.

Next the formal garden...

Then the herbaceous borders...

And now the dahlias...

The volunteers were busy dead-heading the plants and were happy for us to grab some for the photo at the top of this post.

Then it was back via Lode Mill and the Winter Walk....

We loved the bark on these trees.

Lots of lords and ladies here.

And we finished in the shop.... but didn't buy any plants.

Were the dahlias as good as previous years? I thought the individual blooms were as beautiful as ever. The only slight disappointment for me was that there weren't as many as usual. Well see more of my photos from today here on Flickr and my photos from 2019 here and 2020 here and decide for yourself. 

Thanks Joyce for organising us to visit. It was well worth it.