My dahlias are clearly on their way out the door now. It's possible that I may be able to cobble together another arrangement including a few stems next week but I'm not counting on that. I've pulled the majority of the zinnias already and more of the dahlias will go this week. There are promising buds here and there but, if temperatures soar later this week as predicted, they may end up in a green bin rather than a vase.
My first arrangement was created using bits and pieces of four different dahlias.
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| Dahlia 'Fairway Spur', shown front and center here, got a very late start on the season and has only recently picked up its pace |
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| I dressed up the back of the arrangement with stems of Dahlias 'Brown Sugar' and 'Creme de Cognac'. The latter was badly afflicted by the mosaic virus and had only just produced another flush of flowers. |
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| Overhead view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Salmon Rose', Dahlia 'Fairway Spur', D. 'Summer's End', D. 'Creme de Cognac', and D. 'Brown Sugar' |
Stems of three other dahlias ended up in the second arrangement with a few leftover zinnias.
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| Dahlias 'Lady Darlene' and 'Miss Brandy' were also late bloomers. They're similar in color but not in form. |
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| Back view |
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| Overhead view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder', Zinnia elegans 'Queeny Red Lime', Z. e. 'Benary's Giant Lime', Dahlia 'La Luna', D. 'Lady Darlene', and D. 'Miss Brandy' |
Preparing the raised beds in my cutting garden for cool season plants is always time consuming. The fact that I'll probably toss all of the dahlia tubers this year so as to avoid another round with dahlia mosaic virus next year will actually simplify the process as I won't be spending hours cleaning, dividing, and storing tubers as I usually do. However, removing all remnants of the tubers before refreshing the soil for replanting will require more effort this year. I'll approach the process in stages, leaving the plants with the most promising buds to the end. I'll receive some assistance. The raccoons and/or possums are paying me almost nightly visits at present so I expect they'll be "helping" me clear the beds of grubs - yesterday, I saw the first evidence they they'd already been digging in the raised planters.
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Raccoons and possums hardly ever (never!) get a positive writeup and are rarely mentioned unless to complain about their mischief. So yes, its nice to have little help from them for a change :-D
ReplyDeleteI find it fascinating that the color of many Dahlia booms shift as it matures, and as always D. 'Summer's End and D. 'Lady Darlene' never fail to knock my sock off!
Chavli
Outstanding dahlia colors. Love the way the Leucadendron supports them. Hope all is well.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Kris! Damn the critters in your raised beds. I think my recent digging has only enticed them to go to town, its a free for all! Lady Darlene has really nice coloring, did you grow that one last year, too?
ReplyDeleteThese are gorgeous, lush arrangements! The colors are so warm and (I can't believe I'm going to use this word) delicious. I spent yesterday afternoon cutting down and digging out my crop tank veggies in the drive. It was time, even though we are back in a sunny stretch with warm temps for a few days the production is falling off. Our tasks for changing seasons...
ReplyDeleteLots of coral colours here today, Kris, is it your favourite clour, or does it just seem that way sometime? Your dahlias may be on the way out, but they have certainly done you credit today. Good luck with clearing your beds, with or without help!
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