It warmed up here late last week, and the dahlias finally started getting into gear, which is not to say that all of my tubers are blooming yet. However, two of the largest "dinner plate" dahlias flowered and demanded notice. They were identified at time of purchase as 'Belle of Barmera', which I've grown before, and 'Omega', which is new to me. The flowers of both are huge, even by my standards.
The 'Belle of Barmera' is notably softer in color than the one I previously grew, which made me believe that the tubers were mislabeled by the seller.
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| The flowers of this 'Belle' are pale pink and yellow in color while online references describe it as a mix of coral, peach, and raspberry-pink. My plants are pretty but I don't think they're 'Belle of Barmera'. (You can see what those flowers should look like here.) |
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| Back view of the vase, showing off the single stem of 'Omega' I included. I couldn't have crammed in a second 'Omega' bloom in that vase if I'd tried. |
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| Overhead view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' (aka peppermint willow), Dahlia 'Belle of Barmera' (or its imposter), D. 'Omega', and Grevillea 'Superb' |
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| The arrangement in place in our front entryway |
It's looking likely that I can expect more dahlias in the weeks ahead. I remain hopeful that I may get more lilies too, although that's not certain if it gets too hot too fast. A stem of Lilium 'Zelmira' with just two flowers surprised me last Tuesday but I haven't seen any evidence of its sisters in the wings, nor the two other lily varieties I expected to see this season.
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| Lilium 'Zelmira' |
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All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
I love all these punchy colors! Yes, your Belle is definitely more demure than Barmera. The lily is gorgeous, I'm a sucker for sunset-y colors.
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