Why I Oughta...

In the post that I shared yesterday showing off a handful of dahlia stems that I cut from the garden, I included a photo that showed off my first (real) Sweet Nathalie Decorative Dahlia bloom.  I mentioned a few days ago that Sweet Nathalie has been a slow-to-bloom grower for me this year and that my first bloom was somehow 'nipped' off at the bud .  But, the second bloom was quick to follow and you can see it in the photo below:  

Yesterday, I posted a photo of a bunch of Pooh Collarette Dahlia blooms that I cut and brought inside this week and talked about how I'm seeing "Dahlia Season" beginning to arrive with increased blooms.  That's due to a couple of things:  the time/maturity of the plants this season along with some recovery from a mite infestation.  The colors, shapes and textures of this morning's cuttings sure are fun to see.  Below are a couple of photos showing what is in bloom and how the colors are changing based on the time of year.   This is (mostly) the usual bunch ( like the cut flowers I posted a few days ago ):  Wizard of Oz, Melina Fleur, Mystery Fox and that dark purple dahlia.  

Yesterday, I posted a photo of my first dahlia bloom (Wizard of Oz) this season .  Today, comes the second dahlia bloom:  Pablo Gallery.  This is a border dahlia (That means they are much more compact that most other dahlia varieties as they stand just a foot-or-so tall).   Here is the bloom below.  This is a much-shorter stem than the Wizard of Oz cut flower.  And, if you look at the petals, you'll see some pest damage from little buggers nipping at the edges.   I have eight of these planted in three spots - backyard, sideyard and (now) Island bed in front.