In a Vase on Monday: Flawed but not yet gone

A bad case of mildew and the spread of the dahlia mosaic virus have made a mess of the foliage in my cutting garden.  I've cut a lot of it back, which helps improve airflow, but that doesn't make it look all that much better overall.  As the dahlia season winds down, flower production had declined but it hasn't yet stopped entirely.  I cobbled together two arrangements once again this week but I may throw up my hands and pull everything out of my raised planters within the next couple of weeks just to rid myself of that hideous foliage.  I've already come to the conclusion that most, if not all, of my dahlia tubers will have to be tossed when this season comes to an end so as to avoid more issues with the mosaic virus next year.

'Fairway Spur' is one of my favorite dahlias.  It's a late bloomer and I've just had a handful of flowers from it thus far.  It doesn't help that it the heavy blooms sit atop weak stems that struggle to support them, causing them to snap at inconvenient times.  This week, I was able to cut two of those flowers in reasonably good shape and combined them with flowers cut from the more prolific 'Summer's End' Dahlias, another of my favorites.

I took advantage of some of the more recent Zinnia blooms to fill out the vase

Back view

Overhead view

Top row: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' and Leucadendron salignum 'Winter Red'
Middle: Dahlias 'Summer's End' and 'Fairway Spur'
Bottom: Zinnias 'Benary's Giant Coral', 'Benary's Giant Salmon Rose', and 'Queeny Red Lime'

Dahlia 'Cafe au Lait' ('Rose' or 'Royal', I'm no longer sure which) is still pumping out new blooms at a steady rate so I used them for my second arrangement.  I cut stems of the Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' that produced another flush of flowers last week too.  The color mix was a little off with the Callistemon having a peachy cast missing in the dahlias but that was the best I could do.

I got another single stem of the collarette dahlia with a larger bloom than those it'd previously sported.  The dahlia, sold to me as 'Kelsey Ann Joy' is probably actually 'Bumble Rumble' as identified by a social media commentator.

Back view, showing off the Callestemon and Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum)

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Bumble Rumble', D. 'Cafe au Lait Rose/Royal', Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', Eustoma grandiflorum 'Light Apricot', and Leptospermum 'Copper Glow'

We had a speck of rain last week, gaining 0.07/inch over a two-day period.  That puts us just over the seven inch total for the 2025 "water year," which ends on September 30th.  That's less than half our average annual rainfall.  The rain was nevertheless appreciated as my rain barrels caught some of what flowed off the house and garage roofs.  I can only hope that the 2026 water year will be better.  Temperatures have fallen, for which I'm also grateful.

For more IAVOM arrangements,  visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party