After The Gale

The howling winds have abated now that battered the garden for two days. Gusts of up to seventy miles an hour wreaked havoc in Yorkshire blowing roofs off, and trees down.
My bird table was blown over and the fence on the right was broken. The panel got blown out. Next week the neighbour is going to replace the right hand fence panels. We will pay for half of the fence..
The clay pot with the leaf has some bulbs that were present in the sunken border when we moved in. I wander if they are Crocuses? They were placed in a pot and were growing away under a Hebe plant. I repotted them and they have started to grow away..
The Mexican frog pot has been damaged by the freezing weather in December/January. His back paint has started to fall off. I think that he expanded during the cold splitting the lacquer paint finish.
I bought him from the Autumn Flower Show from a vendor that sells these Mexican inspired designs.
The rain that followed the gale forced winds has made it impossible to get to the allotment. After my night shift tonight I hope to get down Tuesday.
I have been reading a book called "Fifty Plants That Changed The World". Its a short guide to fifty of the most influential plants that have been grown over time. Plants have been used by mankind for thousands of years. Its an interesting book to read when the weather is too inclement to get outside..

Dahlia Days Past and Present

The Camera has run out of battery so I am posting what my one Dahlia flower looked like in its prime. The waxy white petals with splashes of egg yolk yellow, and light pink. The yellow centre has spiral patterns.
I wanted to come across a nice Aztec myth as they were great lovers of Dahlias, the Fleeting beauty and bright colours embodied their gods of War and Death.
Instead I came across an interesting article about the Southern Valley of Mexico of a people who grew flowers and vegetables on islands on a lake, the Xochimilca or people of the flowers.
http://www.moplants.com/blog/?p=1042
These man made raised land masses were made by hauling mud from the lake in Baskets and forming Canals between these chinampas (islands). This meant the soil was probably extremely fertile and well watered.
Flowers and Vegetables grew spectacularly here, untill the Aztecs came and conquered these people. The Aztecs took the flowers back with them and put them in their most high peoples gardens, the Empereor and the nobles. The Spanish Conquistador Cortez came upon these beautiful flowers too called Acocotli. Three varieties were taken back to the Madrid Botanical garden.
I wrote before that the mother of all modern hybrids came in an 1872 shipment from Mexico to Holland, the Dahlia Juarrezzi.
Now Mo Gilmer writes that in the citys Nursery districts that there is a blooming cottage industry, and lots of varieties of Dahlias are being sold.
The Dahlia has come full circle, and returned to one of its original dwelling places. Through thousands of years and many cultures. Now it is the National flower of Mexico.
I want to visit one day the City of Xochimilco, and get a flower decorated boat ride to these islands, in the land of the flower people.