dahlias (again)

i had a bumper crop of cafe au lait dahlias this week.  they're some of my best producing dahlias; after all, i do have 8 plants of them.  sometimes i wonder what it would be like to have a whole bed of cafe au laits -- is it possible to have too much of a good thing?  perhaps, but i am pretty confident that i'll miss their lovely faces come the other 9-10 months of the year.  all the dahlias, not just the cafe au laits, are looking so good right now.  i have lots of laterals, all full of plump buds ready to burst.

cafe au lait dahlias paired with coppery tones

suffice to say that this season's crop have done exceedingly well (not that i have much of a comparison point since it's only year 2 of doing this) and i'm encouraged to plant more.  i think 2-3 more beds, for a total of 5, would be sufficient to sate my dahlia lust.  (i say this now, but may regret my words in the spring.)  as much as i love the 'au lait's subtle pastel tones, i'm looking forward to adding new colors, such as deep burgundies, browns and reds and purples as well.

the only thing that could keep me away from my dahlias this weekend would be a killing frost.  it came early last year on october 12th.  keep your fingers crossed for me, please!

cranking out the dahlias

it's prime time for the dahlias and they're working hard to crank out their monster blossoms before the end of the season.  it's been hard navigating the potential nighttime frosts, but we've taken precautions by investing in a frost cover and diligently covering the beds whenever there's a frost warning.  frankly, the plants are putting so much out -- i have been giving flowers away by the bucketful and still have plenty left over to arrange!

i took some pictures for the local garden club where my dahlias beds will be featured and i'm pretty excited and honored.  hope you enjoy!

it's not a summer without dahlias

i'll admit that i was a bit worried about the state of my dahlia beds.  very worried.

but, as everything with gardening, with a little bit of patience (2 weeks' worth) these lovely plants shot up like rockets.  some are taller than me and many loaded with buds which i look forward to harvesting over the coming 6-8 weeks.  i'm still narrowing down the potential factors that i can improve upon next year, but my current theory involves soil temperature and watering.

the garden after the rain (left) and buds of cafe au lait dahlias (right) 

'innocence' dahlia (left) and daddy long leg taking refuge in a giant cafe au lait dahlia (right)

more cafe au lait dahlias and a baby toad (so cute) on the right 

cafe au lait dahlia with touche dahlias

a new favorite that i'm holding in my hand, 'hamilton lillian' dahlia.  love the salmon color

'innocence' dahlia peeking from out (left) 

dahlias are cafe au lait, innocence, chilson's pride and gay princess 

cafe au lait dahlia

giant white dahlia is called yuukyu

long overdue

it's been a while since i've posted on this blog.  i've been somewhat pre-occupied with non-flower activities between my last post and this one -- travelling, instagram-ing and photo-taking.  if you follow me on instagram and on photos, it will give you some insight on what i was up to.

i'm anxiously awaiting my cafe au lait dahlias to bloom in my garden in western MA. some of my earlier blooming dahlias have gotten they're start, but i dearly wish all the dahlias just upped their flower production.  garden-grown dahlias are the best, and much better than what i get at the flower market.  so until my garden starts putting out, i satisfied my cafe au lait lust with dahlias from the market -- not bad but wish i could have got them fresher.

cafe au lait dahlias, keira garden roses, putamayo carnations, ranunculus, flowering oregano and heather

dahlia beds

my favorite dahlia farmers are back in action!  

the dahlia beds were filled with sprouts and weeds after a long stretch of rain earlier in june -- very good for the dahlias and for the weeds as well.  i had hoped that the tubers would survive the unprecedented amount of rain and fortunately all but 5 were spared.  not bad a outcome, considering that i planted 80+ tubers.  

this is our first season planting in the fields and we learned one lesson pretty quickly:  we should have tried to kill the grass first before tilling, either through laying down cardboard or black tarp.  we spent this weekend pulling weeds from the beds, mounding up the sides of the beds, cutting away grass to keep it from creeping up the beds and then covering the beds with mulch.  

of course, when digging up the earth the way we did, we met our various neighbors who inhabit the garden alongside us:  two toads, a red-spotted newt and a number of worms and bugs, both good and bad.  i hope the the toads and newt eat the bad bugs and i used slug bait (sluggo) to get the slimy ones.  the field sits above an underground stream so i have a feeling we'll be seeing more of our newly-discovered friends.  

last of peonies

pink and white peonies, summer clematis and tweedia

i'm about OD-ed on peonies and here's the last of them.  may and june have been full of peonies for me -- a good thing, but perhaps a bit too much exposure.  i can't wait for next year, but i'm looking forward to garden roses, dahlias, hydrangeas and wildflowers this summer.

how deep is your flower love?

more tulips on photos.