Dahlias August 2020


Labeled as 'Asst Annual 4"' with a bug peeking out.  I got it last year.

'Nuit d'Ete'

Good bloomer, but the plant is weak. 
'Cafe Au Lait'
The ever-reliable classic, 'Duet'

This 'Duet' flower has two centers--duet, duet. 

'Funny Face' and its variations




'Arabian Nights' is not having a good year--flowers plentiful but their form is poor.  I read if the flowers are showing their yellow centers, it's time to get rid of the clump.  Can't remember where I read that.

'Tahiti Sunrise' started blooming back in...March? and it's getting tired.  I might try some fertilizer, to see if that peps it up. 
One of a cheapo package of three assorted in the purple color range--'Go Go Mix'.  This plant did not emerge last year, but this year it re-appeared.  Huh.  How 'bout that? 
That 'Asst Annual 4"' again
'Holland Festival'  has been in the garden more than a decade.  It's 7' tall this year.  I had to cut a flower to get a photo of it. 
There it is the plant--the lower part of it--supported by a tomato cage.  The foliage completely hides the tomato cage.  This has proven to be an effective and easy way to stake Dahlias. 

'Color Spectacle' is a very old clump as well.  It's probably time to remove it and give the space to a new Dahlia nest year.

'Catching Fire' is usually the last to bloom.  The first flower was hiding under foliage.  

This year 'Catching Fire' beat out 'Avignon', just opening today.

 

Are you growing Dahlias this year?  Do you have a favorite?  


 

Comments

  1. Wow, you have a lot of dahlias! I love 'Catching Fire' - that's the first time I've seen that one. I pull my tubers out every year as they're in my cutting garden, the only place I can assure them the water they want to thrive. As I dug my tubers out and promptly forgot them last year during the end stages of our remodel, most dried out and I ended up getting new tubers this year, which I didn't plant until late April to early May. Quite a few have buds but the only two that have bloomed thus far are 'Sellwood Glory' and 'Mr Optimist'. I'm already very fond of the latter.

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    1. Your 'Sellwood' and 'Mr.' I have been admiring.

      Remodels do raise havoc. I was looking for some item I KNEW I had before the bath remodel and finally found it a year later in the guest bath where it had gotten stored for reasons unknown.

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  2. I only have 3. Yours are all lovely.

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    1. My garden is looking pretty tired now--would be sad without the Dahlias. Yours being still looking fabulous, maybe you only need three? :)

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  3. Your dahlias are gorgeous. Mine are just starting to set buds but the plants are small and scrawny. Need a really good rain for them to bulk up a bit. Using a tomato cage to stake them is genius. Will have to try that next year.

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    1. The tomato cages were used out of laziness, so sometimes laziness pays! Ha! Ha!

      I hope you get a good rain soon and have beautiful Dahlias to enjoy. They are such fun.

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  4. I enjoy seeing your dahlias and everyone elses but I don't grow them. It is the digging up in the fall saving them and then planting them out once again that keeps me from growing them.

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    1. If I had to dig/store, probably would not have Dahlias. I'm just not organized enough. I tried dig/store one year with Ranunculus--found them several years later as desiccated little bits carefully labeled in a garage drawer, so at least I knew what they used to be before I threw them out.

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  5. Ohh, no! Don't evict the gorgeous and well-named 'Color Spectacle'.

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    1. The spectacle used to be very good, with shifts from burnt orange to lavenders or vice-versa as the flower aged, but not so much anymore. Took several weeks of waiting for a flower decent enough to photograph. :(

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  6. Nope, no dahlias here...but I'm sure you already knew that. Yours are gorgeous!

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    1. Vive la différence! It would be boring if we all grew the same plants.

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