While some of my dahlias are blooming one flower at a time and a handful still just have buds, there are others that are blooming faster than I can cut them even though I've given away several bouquets in the past week. In an effort to stay ahead of the grasshoppers that have a taste for dahlias, I cut those with the most abundant blooms.
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| Dahlias 'La Luna' and 'Summer's End' put on a sunny front |
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| I cut the first bloom of Dahlia 'Fairway Spur' to dress up the back view |
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| Overhead view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Dahlia 'Fairway Spur', D. 'La Luna', D. 'Summer's End', and Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Lime' |
Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda' seems to be one of the grasshoppers' favorite snacks so cutting those flowers for a second arrangement was a given.
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| Front view |
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| I dressed up the back view with a wider range of flowers, including foxglove and lisianthus stems |
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| Overhead view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Eustoma grandiflorum, Digitalis purpurea, Dahlia 'Blue Bell', and D. 'Mikayla Miranda' |
Last week's heatwave held on through Sunday as predicted, although yesterday's temperature peaked a smidge lower at 92F (33C). At least we never hit the highs the inland valleys did but temperatures in the mid-90sF kept me out of the garden beyond the early morning hours. It looks as though our morning marine layer is expected to creep back into place for several days this week, which should deliver cooler temperatures. We can hope that anyway.
For more IAVOM creations, check in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
These are both so soft & pretty, feels like a breath of fresh air. Summer's End is especially nice. MM is a prolific bloomer. I hope something comes along and eats all the grasshoppers.
ReplyDeleteThere appear to be an incredible number of grasshoppers here this year, Tracy. The big brown adults are easy to spot but there are even more tiny green babies out there. The birds need to get to work!
DeleteOh, thanks for sharing your Dahlias again. <3 Both arrangements are simply lovely and cheery.
ReplyDeleteThanks Beth! The dahlias are likely to remain the mainstays of my IAVOM posts for the next month or two ;)
DeleteYou are certainly very successful at growing Dahlias, and keeping up with their demands for water etc. Thanks for sharing them so beautifully in those arrangements.
ReplyDeleteI can only grow dahlias in my cutting garden because it gets more water than any place else. I did try some in a border once but it was a major failure.
DeleteDarn grasshoppers! I love the overhead view of the first vase, gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThat was my favorite photo this week too, Loree :)
DeleteFortunately grasshoppers are not a problem we have here, Kris! I love both your arrangements today, both classy and balanced and elegant, and in both cases the foliage complements the blooms perfectly
ReplyDeleteNo grasshoppers! While at least they're not like locusts, we can't avoid having them in significant numbers here every summer. I don't know why the birds don't cull their ranks to a greater extent.
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