Creative Dahlias Workshop with Gathered at Dusk

Gathered at Dusk is running a dahlia workshop at Carlton Towers on Saturday 12 September, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. It's a hands-on morning in the Stables Tearoom, which looks out over the Walled Garden Vineyard, so you've got the view while you work.

Hattie, who runs Gathered at Dusk, will be leading the session. The two halves of the morning are pretty straightforward: first, she'll show you how to grow the best dahlias for floristry, and then you'll use them to put together your own arrangement. The flowers come straight from her farm in Laxton, East Yorkshire — about twenty minutes from Carlton Towers — where she grows them without pesticides or chemicals. You'll be working with sustainable, reusable techniques, so it's as much about how to build the arrangement as it is about the flowers themselves.

That sustainable approach is the whole point of Gathered at Dusk. Hattie started the business after finding out that around 90% of the UK's flowers are imported, which she says comes with an extremely high carbon footprint. Her four-acre farm in Laxton is designed for wildlife, and she describes her way of working as working alongside nature to create seasonal arrangements. The workshop is a chance to see that in practice rather than just hearing about it.

Everything you need is included in the price: the flowers, the equipment, a bowl, and a pin to take your arrangement home with you. If you fancy a drink while you work, the Stables Tearoom serves refreshments throughout the session. It's £80 per person, and the whole thing runs from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm on Saturday 12 September at Carlton Towers, Carlton, DN14 9LZ.