As a flower enthusiast I take up many an opportunity to look round many a garden if given half a chance. There is always some inspiration to take from observing planting designs and discovering new plants as well as the general sense of happiness generated from floral scents and bountiful colour. This year we've been lucky to take in plenty of blooms and I love to snap a few pictures to reflect back on.

Above: this monster dahlia flower was getting on for the size of a dinner plate, it would have been too weighty for most of my vases. The colour was a little too vague for my liking (for reference I believe it was 'cafe au lait).
Below: from my limited knowledge, I hope it's a hollyhock but I particularly liked the look of the newly opening flower looking like a lovely round bowl before fully opening out.

 Above: cosmos, I think ones like this are called doubles because they have double the amount of petals. I seem to favour all cosmos equally.
Below: pompom dahlias, usually my least favourite of them but in this colour they look very pretty



 The burning shades of echinacea are spectacular


 This dahlia confused me with it's flower going straight up (and again, a huge flower). There is always something unexpected to take from looking at a garden.
I was recently sent this gorgeous book called Secret Gardens of East Anglia by Barbara Segall which is exactly up my street. I've been glued to the pages, reading all about local places with the fascinating history of gardens and how they've been developed and grown through the years. The photography is fabulous and really brings the gardens to life, Marcus Harpur has captured the beauty to perfection. The book is full of divine images so as well as being particularly interesting and informative also makes for a feast for the eyes with a quick flick through.
The foreword by Beth Chatto had me nodding along, I love to listen to the wisdom of garden experts and try to learn and apply their advice.
The book is available to pre-order now here (it's out 7th September) so you can get your hands on a copy very soon. This is a wonderful book to own, or perhaps buy as a gift for a garden lover - especially maybe someone who struggles to get out. Explore all 22 gardens from the comfort of an armchair.


I was sent a copy of this book to feature, all opinions are my own. 
Do you love discovering a secret garden as much as I do?
Sophie