There have been many things to be joyful about this year. The sweet peas have been amazingly prolific and provided fragrant armfuls of flowers every morning for a month. Walking the dahlia beds to see which varieties have started to flower is something I have looked forward to doing every day. Discovering new flowers or new colour combinations is exciting and fills me with enthusiasm and a desire to grow even more next year. But most of all, the pride and joy of seeing the bunched and wrapped flowers, ready to go out at their absolute best, makes all the hard work worthwhile.