Why I Oughta...

Below are photos of two arrangements that I made this week after snipping off some dahlia blooms from around the garden beds.  These two mark the 20th and 21st cut flower arrangement of the growing season (that I've documented 1 ).   These feature Ivanetti, Milena Fleur, Messenger To the Moon, Wizard of Oz, Blue Wish, that unknown orange ball one, a couple (Not) Rip City and....(of course) Saint Martin Waterlily dahlias: The one on the left is in a blue glass Ball mason jar.  On the right is in a thrifted vase. The first one of the season was all the way back in July .  (Not) Rip City, Blue Wish, Saint Martin, that bubblegum cactus/semi-cactus one.  The most recent one was from last week that featured Crichton Honey, Brown Sugar, Milena Fleur and...Saint Martin.   You can see the other 20 from this year here at my [ Dahlia arrangement ] tag.   Going "big" with dahlias in 2026 was one of my priorities .  Seems like 20+ arrangements h...

Two days ago, I described the Saint Martin Waterlily Dahlia plants as my most productive dahlias of the season .  Today, I'm showing an update on my LEAST productive dahlia:  Cafe au Lait.   I didn't intend to grow Cafe au Lait this year.  Some of the tubers that I ordered from Longfield Gardens weren't viable, so they send a pair of Cafe au Lait tubers as a replacement.   They arrived three weeks after every other dahlia tuber was started (and had produced new growth), so these started behind from the beginning. I planted two.  One in the Pizza Oven West bed.  And one in the sideyard.  The Pizza Oven West dahlia died.  Suddenly.  One of those things. The one in the sideyard started slow.  And, kept growing slowly.  All Summer.   I was knee-high in August.   Now, a the beginning of October, it still hasn't bloomed.  But, it has put on a bunch of foliage in the past few weeks.   Cafe...

I planted a pair of Saint Martin Waterlily dahlia tubers this season and they've been (BY FAR) the most prolific dahlia that I've ever grown.  They have thrown off blooms since (at least) July and are still loaded with blooms on the tips of thin, but fairly strong stems.  But, those stems are different than most of the rest of my dahlias.  Most dahlia stems (in my experience) are hallow.  Like straws.  But, Saint Martin stems are far more thin.  And, if they're straw-like, the straw is super small.   These also have smaller and different texture leaves on the flower stems than most of  my other dahlias.  We've had some rain this week, so that means when the dahlia plants are full of blooms (and buds), they tend to get weighed down.  Saint Martin is almost folding in half in parts.   That lead me to cut a bunch of them while they're opened.  I also grabbed some Crichton Honey, Brown Sugar, a lone Blue Wish dahlia blo...

Dahlia cutting season is moving quickly these days. After waiting to cut anything for a while due to trying to cut them for the girls' Homecoming corsages, we're now flush with blooms.  On a recent morning, I went out and snip'd off a number of blooms.  That will BOTH drive more blooms to arrive, but it also has the secondary benefit of removing some of the weight on the tips of the stems.   Below are a pair of cut dahlia stem arrangements.  These are cut from the front Island Bed, IB2DWs, sideyard and both sides of the pizza oven bed.  They feature Brown Sugar, Milena Fleur, Crichton Honey, Rip City (not Rip City), Wizard of Oz, Tsuki Yori No Shisha (Messenger of the Moon) Notably, Tsuki Yori No Shisha is a fimbriated dahlia.  My only one (that I can confirm). But, perhaps the (NOT) Rip City dahlia is fimbriated, too?   Counting down the days until our first frost.  Hoping for a late October arrival.  

Over the past few weeks, I've made mention of a challenging infestation of Spider Mites that have come to take over a good swath of the dahlias in the sideyard.  Despite treating them multiple ways, they seemed to stick around and continue to attack the plants. I started by spraying everything with my normal miticide - Bifenthrin.  That has (historically) done the trick.  But, either the Spider Mites are immune to it, or I wasn't mixing it strong enough.  Because, they not only survived, they seemed to grow.  And take over more plants.  I did all the non-synthentic things, too.  Like...giving the plants a STRONG spray of water to knock the mites off.  And, I went for two-plus weeks with a heavy-hand of Neem Oil concentrate.  I sprayed the tops of the leaves.  I sprayed the bottoms of the leaves.  I sprayed the stems.  I sprayed the soil.  I sprayed the blooms.   Nothing would stop these freaking Spider mite...

I seem to have gotten on top of the spider mites in the sideyard.  Those plants are starting to show new, green growth (I'll post on that separately), but those plants haven't begun to re-flower.  Yet.  But, the rest of the dahlias are still popping off.  The heavy rain we had over the weekend has weighed down the plants and flower heads, so I cut a bunch off and brought them inside.  One arrangement on the left that is a little bit more compact and tight.  And, one on the right that is a bit more wild and splayed open. Milena Fleur, Rip City, Saint Martin, Brown Sugar and Crichton Honey.   #6 on my 2026 to-do list ( marked incomplete earlier this month ) was to "Go Bigger on Dahlias".  Seems that has been done.  

Am I disappointed that I am NOT growing a Bell's Palermo dahlia ?  Yeah.  Sort of.  But, am I now (sort of) falling in love with whatever this dahlia that is growing in our front yard?  Yeah.  Sort of.  Is it Candela?  Maybe.  Does it have short stems?  Yes.  Certainly.   But, it also has this spectacular bloom:

I was supposed to have two Crichton Honey tubers in the garden this year.  I'm certain that I have one.  The one next to the pizza oven.  I labeled it as dahlia #1 in my 42 tuber planting map .  I bought two Crichton Honey tubers from Bonny Blooms.   The other one is at spot #12 along the sideyard .  But, that whole bed has been suffering the past few weeks from a terrible infestation of Spider Mites.  So, I'm not seeing ANY blooms.  And, I'm not sure that it is Crichton Honey.  At least yet. But, the pizza oven version?  Have a look: And, in addition to being real (and spectacular), they're certainly popping off right now with blooms and blooms. Apricot blooms.  Almost orange.    I think they say "pumping out blooms" in the trade.  That checks out. While my time right now is spent with my little snips cutting off flowers for arrangements....I am hoping that all this above-ground plant happiness that I'm seeing means...

A week-or-so ago, I posted a photo of what I was calling my first (ever) Bell's Palermo dahlia.  Or...a bloom that was coming off of a dahlia from a tuber that I bought that I *thought* was Bell's Palermo.   But, I was suspicious.  Here's what I wrote at the time : It is, well, interesting. And large. And, not what I was thinking it was going to look like. I went on further : I mentioned that I bought this one (and some others) from Bonny Blooms.  They handle customer service thought a chat window on their site 1 . I submitted a similar note there - asking if this was, indeed, Bell's Palermo.   Here's what Craig from Bonny Blooms responded: Bonny Blooms Hi, I took a look at that picture and you're right - it's not Palermo. Some of my unreleased dahlias were sent in error in the the spring and I wonder if that's what it is - or it could be Candela, but I'd need to see it fully open and perhaps a second bloom as the tones aren't quite right. I...

First time growing Crichton Honey Dahlia and I know 'get it'.  I understand why it is so widely loved and grown.  It is a star.  I planted two of them, but I'm pretty sure one was mis-labeled.  But, the Crichton Honey that is next to the pizza oven?  ( #1 on my placement list ).  It is certainly true to listing.   And, it is coming on strong.  Below are a couple of photos of the blooms that I cut off this morning: I also went around and cut some other blooms:  Great Silence Decorative Dahlia , Milena Fleur Decorative Dahlia, Rip City Semi-Cactus dahlia, small little Burlesca Ball dahlias , and a uniquely-colored Zundert Mystery Fox Dahlia . Here, below, are a couple of photos of the cluster of cut stems: Here, in the center of the photo below, is that uniquely-colored Zundert Mystery Fox dahlia.  It is more purple than my other Mystery Fox blooms: Living up to its name, I guess. Here's what Longfield Gardens says about Mystery Fox...

Over the weekend, we spent part of a day at the Walworth County Fair up in Elkhorn, Wisconsin .  Eating corn dogs, seeing the 4-K kids with their animals.  Watching the horseback barrel races.  And, of course...spending some time in the Horticulture Building.  Looking at the cut flowers.  The two categories that I'm most interested in seeing are (of course) dahlias.  And Zinnias.  Here, below, is a look at some of the dahlia entries: I believe that the stems have to be in place about mid-week.  So, these are 3-4-or-5 days old by the time that we see them.  So, they're on their way out in terms of vase-life. Can I say something? Am I wrong?

Now things are starting to get good.  With the dahlias.  Different varieties and types make for an interesting grouping.  Here is what I cut on a recent morning from the front and side yard beds:

I just applied the final feeding/treatment of the five Disneyland Roses and the 42 dahlias that are scattered around the garden.  I sprinkled the first application of the 3-in-1 systemic (and synthetic) granules at the beginning of May this year.   From there, I did a monthly application:  Early April, Early May, Early June, Early July, Early August and now....right as the calendar turns to September.  That's 7 applications.   This is the final feeding of the season.  And, that's the schedule that I've kept the past few years:  final application of fertilizer right around Labor Day.    Here's the post from 2025.   Here's the final feeding from 2024 (also in September ).  With all the plants that I need to treat, it seems that I'm using almost one full container of this BioAdvanced all-in-one Rose & Flower Care product with each feeding.   At about $22 per container, that's $150 of fertilizer, insecticide and fungu...

Just a few days ago, I posted about the pair of Peaches-n-Cream dahlia plants that I've been growing in the IB2DWs bed(s) and how their bi-color blooms were starting to shine .  Both in terms of colors, but also shape/texture.  Like Peaches-n-Cream, today's post is about a dahlia tuber that I bought from Bonny Blooms.  This one is a first-bloom-of-the-season for a new (to me) dahlia:  Bell's Palermo. If you look at this post from November , you'll see that in my Bonny Blooms order, I ordered pairs of tubers for all varieties but one:  Bell's Palermo.   That's because it was double the price of the rest of the tubers.   But, now in Late August, the plant has put on some size and we're seeing the first bloom.  On a really short stem.  But...still a bloom.   It is, well, interesting.  And large.  And, not what I was thinking it was going to look like.  Here, below are a few photos of the very same bloom.  ...

Just when things were going swimmingly with dahlia season pop'ing off, we have a setback.  And, this one was an accident.  I planted a number of dahlias in the Pizza Oven Bed.  I called it the "Pizza Oven West Bed" because it is, well...West of the oven.  And, that makes them *close* to tree swing.  Which, up until this week hasn't been an issue.  But...kids will be kids.  And, one-way-or-the-other, someone found themselves in, amongst the dahlias.  And, unfortunately....that means that two of them had stems that were cracked off.   A Milena Fluer decorative dahlia.  And, Rip City.  Or... what I was sold as Rip City (but I'm pretty sure isn't really Rip City.) Here, below, are a couple of photos.  Milena Fleur on the left.  "Rip City" on the right.  Both were cut down by about half.     Below are a couple more photos showing the close-ups of the cracks.   And, here below, are a couple of...

The last time I shared photos of some cut flower arrangements here on the garden diary was back in early August .  Since then, I've cut and put together a number of countertop arrangements.  For our kitchen.  For friends.  For neighbors.  Here are a few below.   In this jade-colored hobnail vase that I've used a number of times this year is a mixed ALL dahlia cut flower arrangement featuring:  Rip City semi-cactus dahlia, Blue Wish dahlia, Milena Fleur decorative dahlia, Wizard of Oz dahlia, Jowey Winnie, and a bunch of Saint Martin dahlias. In this smaller milkglass vase is a similar selection of dahlias:  Blue Wish, Jowey Winnie, Milena Fleur.  But also some Brown Sugar and some Silver Dollar Eucalyptus that I snipped off one of the plants: Here, below is that same jade-colored hobnail vase with a different set of dahlias.  Some that I cut longer/taller like the Pooh collarette ones.  And those Saint Martins on long stems....