We're facing another heatwave this week so I cut a lot of what was blooming in my cutting garden on Sunday morning. Dare I hope that this will be our last heatwave of the year? There are no guarantees and rain is still a distant prospect but my cutting garden is in peak giving mode nonetheless.
The intense color of Dahlia 'Rip City' grabbed my attention when I first saw a photo of the flower online early this year. I ordered the tuber but I didn't really expect it to live up to its publicity photo; however, it has.
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The blooms of 'Rip City' are almost black
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Back view: The dahlia's color made it difficult to find partners that would complement rather than clash with its dark bluish-black undertones
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Top view: Hot pinks offered the best match and the purplish color of Ageratum corymbosum's foliage gave the arrangement additional interest
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Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Rip City', foliage of Ageratum corymbosum, Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', Callistemon hybrid 'Hot Pink', Cuphea hybrid 'Starfire Pink', and Pentas lanceolata
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Even though I used Dahlia 'Enchantress' in a vase last week, a good flush of fresh blooms had me cutting it again for another vase this week. 'Enchantress' performed well last year as well. It's an especially prolific bloomer.
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New blooms of a noID Japanese anemone that came with the garden were a last minute addition to play off the yellow in the center of the dahlias and the in the Lantana flowers
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Back view: I used a few Zinnia 'Envy' flowers as accents here
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Enchantress', Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Lantana 'Samantha', noID Anemone hupehensis, and Zinnia elegans 'Envy'
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As it's fall and I'd like to welcome the change of seasons (even if it doesn't yet feel like fall here yet), I cut sunflowers for a third vase.
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The bees and the birds have been all over the flowers of this 'Delta Sunflower' in the cutting garden so I felt a twinge of guilt in taking some but the bush is still producing a steady supply of new blooms
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Back view: I added stems of variegated Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash' to brighten the mix a bit
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Top view
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Clockwise from the top: Helianthus annuus 'Delta Sunflower', Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', and Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum'
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A friend planned to stop by to bring me a package of the cleaning wipes that have eluded me for months, so I prepared a final impromptu arrangement in a jelly jar to hand off to her as well.
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The centerpiece of this arrangement was Dahlia 'Belle of Barmera'. Other elements included: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' (foliage), Correa 'Wyn's Wonder', and Zinnia elegans 'Queen Lime Blush'
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I hope you enjoy a colorful week too! For more flower arrangements, visit the leader of our merry IAVOM band, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Beautiful. Rip City is a gorgeous dahlia. I love that dark red colour and have it in snapdragons growing with calendula. Has the smoke dissipated a bit?
ReplyDeleteOur air quality has been in the "moderate" category for about a week now, which is considerable better than it was, Elaine. However, the biggest fire in Los Angeles County, called the Bobcat Fire, is still just 62% after burning for weeks already and now our Santa Ana winds are picking up again...We may still have a bumpy road well into October.
DeleteAll beautiful, but you really knocked it out of the park with the first arrangement. A wonderful color combination - that dark dahlia is impressive - and the perfect vase to boot.
ReplyDeleteYou probably would have been amused by my deliberations when it come to selecting the right vase for that first arrangement. There was another that also would have been great but it was too small to hold everything I'd cut. Still another was too tall...You probably get the picture.
DeleteKris, your dahlias are stunning. I love the way you've prepared the first set with 'Rip City'. Also love the effect Zinnia elegans 'Envy'brings to the second arrangement. Hold the hot weather and fires dissipate soon.
ReplyDeleteThis heatwave is supposed to be relatively brief, Susie, waning by the weekend. I hope that forecast is correct and that the Santa Ana winds don't whip up the fires that are still burning or set off any new ones.
DeleteThat first vase is a masterpiece Kris! I love the dahlia, and the pink flowers and the tinged foliage you chose really make it shine! The second one is fresh and summery and the last one is autumn in a vase with that gorgeous Pennisetum. Hope your heatwave is over soon. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Cathy. My fingers are crossed that the heatwave isn't as bad as the last one and that it fades by the weekend as predicted.
DeleteOh you have worked wonders with Rip City, Kris - what a superb choice of foliage to accompany it, and the pink blooms accentuate it perfectly.. And then we have your other vases too - you work so hard to provide blooms to share with us each Monday Kris ��
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm regarded as a flower addict, Cathy ;) I was really tickled by how well the Ageratum foliage accented the 'Rip City' Dahlia. That foliage has previously disappointed me when I used it in vases with its own flowers but these stems are holding up well.
DeleteYour dahlia "Rip City" is stunning to put it mildly. What a head turner and stunner it is. So perfect for fall, even though it must still seem like summer there.
ReplyDeleteI truly hope your weather cools soon and some rain comes along. We have gotten both this evening, and I am most grateful for the rain especially. It has been an extremely dry summer followed by an extremely dry fall so far. Hopefully that will change for both of us.
I'm very glad to hear you've had rain at last, Cindy! We'll probably be dry for another month at least (and forecasters are warning that this may be a "La Nina" year, which means stingy rain) but at least we've had cooler nights and our morning marine layer is back. Those conditions help lift the stress on plants.
DeleteExcellent arrangements, once again. Heat wave, once again. Stay cool!
ReplyDeleteIt would be so nice if this was the last heatwave of the season...
Delete'Rip City' is gorgeous, (indeed, all your dahlias are). I've never seen one so dark. I might see if I can find it for next year. I love the 'rooster tail' grasses with the sunflowers. I know what you mean about feeling guilty about taking favored flowers, but I make sure there are lots more for bees to visit. Right now they are covering the many wild asters I have growing everywhere. They are such a delight (bees and aster flowers)!
ReplyDeleteAnother heat wave? Enough already, right? Wishing you a cooler October.
The truth is that I've got a LOT of bee-friendly flowers in this garden and grabbing several sunflowers shouldn't matter. The Grevilleas, most of the Cuphea, the Gazanias and the Zinnias haven't been cut back yet and those are also bee-magnets. I always wonder if bees prefer some flowers over others, though. I learned guilt at my mother's knee so I guess I'll always manage to feel guilty about something! ;) Heatwaves in October aren't unusual here but we are very tired of them.
DeleteBeautiful - I love those colors, especially the first one.
ReplyDelete'Rip City' is a winner and one I intend to continue growing next year!
DeleteYou are going to make me a dahlia lover if you aren't careful. I love the one in the middle photo at the end. Happy IAVOM.
ReplyDeleteWould that be a bad thing, Lisa? ;)
DeleteYou have taken stunning Dahlias and given them the star treatment in your vases. These are nicely followed by a more autumnal coloured vase with some lovely grasses. Have a good week, and keep safe.
ReplyDeleteThanks Noelle. There are no fires on top of us, thank goodness. However, we do live in a high-risk area and have some crazy people in the vicinity that shoot off fireworks periodically, which is unnerving.
DeleteOh I love 'Rip City' and the arrangement you built around it. I wonder about the name. Portland is "Rip City" to it's basketball fans (our team the Blazers). Do you know if there is any connection?
ReplyDeleteI did a little digging and found that Dahlia 'Rip City' was hybridized in 1992 by Nicholas Gitt, the owner of Swan Island Dahlias, which is based in Canby, Oregon so it's possible it was named in honor of the Trailblazers. Swan Island doesn't currently show 'Rip City' in stock so that was a dead end and none of the other sites providing details on the dahlia said anything about how it got its name. I think it's a very solid guess, though.
DeleteOh a most attractive trio of vases Kris. The first one is my favourite - the dahlia is a beauty and the other flowers compliment it so well. I've never tried 'Rip City' but could be tempted 😄 I've grown 'Chat Noir' this year which looks a similar colour. Hope that your heatwave season is well past its peak now.
ReplyDeleteWell, the heat isn't as bad as it was a few weeks ago but we did reach 92F (33C) today, Anna. This heatwave is supposed to be relatively brief and my fingers are crossed that the forecast is correct and we cool down by the week's end.
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