Once a handful of dahlias began to bloom last month, I thought the remainder would be close behind but it seems that their schedule and mine aren't in sync. Three of the stragglers have buds, while five other plants - all healthy - still show no signs of these. A possum (or raccoon) dug through the raised planters in my cutting garden on Saturday night, compromising the health of yet another plant, the last to sprout. While I wait out all the slow-pokes, I'm making the most of the six dahlias willing to offer flowers.
I've featured the yellow-flowered Dahlia 'Calin' in IAVOM posts twice already but this week I decided it was past time to show off Dahlia 'Summer's End'.
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'Summer's End' is classified as a water-lily dahlia. Beautiful as it is in form and color, I think Zinnia 'Queen Lime Orange' may have stolen the show.
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Back view
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Grevillea 'Superb', Dahlia 'Summer's End', and Zinnia elegans 'Queen Lime Orange'
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I've used Dahlia 'Southern Belle', the first of my dahlias to bloom this year, once before in a Monday post. This week I chose to pair it with Amaryllis belladonna flowers while they last. Our temperatures climbed into the mid-90sF/35C this weekend and the Amaryllis quickly showed signs of stress.
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Dahlia 'Southern Belle' helps ground the sugary sweet pale pink blooms of Amaryllis belladonna
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I dressed up the back view with some of the last Daucus carota 'Dara' (wild carrot) blooms, which are quickly going to seed. Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy' has reappeared to add liveliness to the arrangement.
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Daucus carota 'Dara', Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy', Amaryllis belladonna, Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Pelargonium schizopetalum, and Dahlia 'Southern Belle'
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As usual, there were leftovers among the flowers I cut. The humidity that accompanied the monsoonal weather in the desert areas to the east of us prompted another flush of bloom from Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid'. I'd planned to add the peachy flowers to the first arrangement to pick up the peach tones in Dahlia 'Summer's End'; however, the Callistemon's peachy-pink flowers didn't combine well with the Zinnia 'Queen Lime Orange' so the Callistemon was bounced, ending up in a small vase on the kitchen island.
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Left to right: Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', Zinnia elegans 'Carmine Rose' and noID pink Zinnia
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It looks like temperatures may drop slightly over the course of the week but humidity will remain high. Southern California's reputation for "dry heat" seems to be but a memory.
For more IAVOM posts, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
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material © 2012-2022
by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Your dahlias are doing great, so pretty and well-formed. Nice you have many more to enjoy. 'Summer's End' is lovely, I can see why it's called water-lily.
ReplyDeleteBy coincidence, I bought a tuber for a second water-lily dahlia this year: 'Karma Prospero'. It'd only produced a single flower when I belatedly "pinched" it back but it's loaded with buds now and I'm looking forward to using them in arrangements in coming weeks.
DeleteAll gorgeous, third vase included. Zinnia elegans 'Queen Lime Orange' is indeed spectacular, but I doubt it would shine as brightly without the Dahlia 'Summer's End'; it's name alone makes it a winner in my book. The second arrangement has the most beautiful colors scheme: pale pink to dark burgundy, and my one of my favorite vases as well.
ReplyDeletechavli
Last year, Dahlia 'Summer's End' really did bloom late in the season but this year it was one of the first to out the gate. Summer doesn't usually end here until sometime in late October and I have to wonder if the dahlia will continue pumping out blooms that long. It'd be nice to believe it signals an early end to my least favorite season ;)
DeleteYes, Zinnia 'Queen Lime Orange' is a real start but I do like the pink of Southern Belle which goes perfectly with the amaryllis. You still have some lovely blooms despite the pesky racoon!
ReplyDeleteI've been running the drip irrigation system in the raised planters more often as summer's heat intensifies so the soil in those beds was easy to dig. Raccoons are classic opportunists!
DeleteLove your 'Cane's Hybrid'! I special ordered it from Armstrong to bring north but the order never materialized. I'm amazed that daucus made it through to August! Beautiful vases, Kris.
ReplyDeleteI got my 'Cane's Hybrid' from Australian Native Plans Nursery in Casitas Springs (Ventura) in 2015 should your travels take you back that way, Denise. Annie's periodically offers it in a 4-inch pot, although it's not available at present. It grows relatively quickly.
Delete'Summers End' in an autumnal-colored palette--wishful thinking? ;^)
ReplyDeleteThe array of pinks is my favorite. Cool that Amaryllis belladonna can act as a lily in our lily-challenged climate. Looks to hover around 90F all week here--yuck. Stay cool.
DeleteWe had a brief flirtation with the marine layer this morning and the daytime high was somewhat lower than yesterday's 95F but the high humidity still made activity in the garden uncomfortable, even in the late afternoon. I may just be getting tired of the swampy conditions...I got next to nothing done in the garden today :(
Oh I think that zinnia 'Queen Lime Orange' does steal the show Kris. I haven't got my specs on but for a minute I though that she was a dahlia! Sorry to read that you have creatures who have munched đą
ReplyDeleteWhenever the creatures disappear for a period, I find myself wishfully believing that they've gone elsewhere for the duration of the season, Anna. This is seldom, if ever, true. I'd harbored the belief that the combined efforts of the coyotes and the hawks had driven the rabbits away, only to encounter a very large bunny in my garden just this afternoon.
DeleteGorgeous flowers - 'Summer's End' was worth the wait! Do you think the yet-to-bloom dahlias are just later flowering varieties, or could seasonal factors be an influence? Do you ever give them extra potash during the growing season? Some dahlia growers here swear by it.
ReplyDelete'Queen Lime Orange' really is quite extraordinary - especially when cleverly paired with your grevillea.
Love the Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', Zinnia elegans 'Carmine Rose' combo. The lolly pink palette of this bunch looks good enough to eat :)
Some of the yet-to-bloomers were purchased during end-of-season tuber sales, which accounts for their delayed development, but that doesn't explain all of them. One, 'La Luna', is reputed to be a late bloomer; however, yet another (from the same source received early in the season) is supposed to be an early bloomer. I've begun to wonder if the tuber selection standards of some major growers slipped during the pandemic...I haven't tried adding extra potash to the soil but I did add worm compost for the first time this year. Maybe I'll try potash next year!
DeleteYour dahlias are all lovely and you have two gorgeous late summer vases Kris. I am constantly amazed at what you manage to grow in your climate. The 'Summer's End' is appropriately named I think, as we start winding down towards autumn. It's still hot here too - in the thirties again next week.And oh so dry! Does your marine layer increase humidity?
ReplyDeleteWhen the marine layer is thick, the humidity does run high but the temperature is lower so it's not oppressive. At this time of year, the marine layer doesn't last long and, as it departs, the humidity level generally drops. The combination of high humidity and heat during the summer months is usually a byproduct of monsoonal moisture moving in from the desert areas to the east of us.
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