Why I Oughta...

On Monday, I posted my latest cut flower arrangement featuring dahlias and zinnias and some perennials from around the garden .  Today, I'm showing another arrangement - featuring dahlias.  This time, though, it includes a couple of large Pablo Gallery Border Dahlias as the big statement pieces.  I used a few small Disneyland Roses, some snips of Limelight Hydrangea (before they opened up), a couple tall legs of Garden Ghost Artemeisa, and greenery and texture via Butterscotch Amsonia.   This is in a green Goodwill thrifted vase that has the look of Uranium Glass (but it isn't).  I tried to get that look of one side arching up with the other side arching down (via the Euphorbia).   The stand-outs are the Pablo Gallery dahlias - see below for a close-up.   Including the various peony-filled vases , this is the fifth (or so) arrangement that I've put together for the year.  

A few days ago, I showed the first cut flower from the set of Pablo Gallery Border dahlias that I put in the garden this year (in the backyard near the patio) and talked about how there were more blooms approaching.   There are five border dahlia tubers in this corner bed that wrap around the corner.  They are sitting on the 'other side' of a trio of Karl Foerster Grasses.    Below is a look at the current state of these five border dahlias.  Four of them have buds with one being a little bit further behind.  Three of them are home to opened-up multi-color dahlias.  These are coral-colored with some reds and yellows in them: The blooms are good-sized.  Below is a photo showing one of them with my hand as a reference for size: Pablo Gallery has won the the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit - so it is a proven and prolific bloomer.  I'm going to keep dead-heading these to see if we can get a bumper crop.  Based on...

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.  

I've been holding on to a couple of dahlia tubers that I potted up weeks ago.  In one two-gallon nursery pot was a pair of Pablo Gallery border dahlias ( That is also home to a tiny Zinnia seedling that I tucked into the middle.  I was experimenting with 'thinning' out my Zinnia seedlings to see if I could succesfully pull one out and transplant it.  Seems to be working... ).   I originally set out the large variety of dahlia tubers (that I started indoors) in early June - after the last threat of frost .  I planted five Pablo Gallery border dahlias in the patio bed in back.  I put another one in the side yard.  And, gave one away to my Mom.  That left these two to find a new home.  After sitting on them for weeks, I decided to plant them up in the front yard.  In the back of the Island Bed. These photos are from late June, despite this post going up in early July.  Here, below, are the Pablo Gallery dahlias showing some growth...

Five weeks ago, I potted up a number of stored-over-Winter dahlia tubers and a bunch of new-to-us purchased tubers in one-gallon nursery pots . I kept them inside for the month of May and by mid-month many of them were showing signs of life with new growth .  As June began, I started to harden off the dahlias with increasing time outside.  Eventually, leading to leaving them outside, overnight for a few nights.   Then...it was time to plant them.  Here's a look at the dahlias we are growing out on the patio getting hardened off: Hardening off dahlias that we started indoors a month earlier.   I have planted twenty-one (21) dahlia tubers in six locations.  Yes...twenty-one dahlias.  EEEK.  That's A LOT more than last year.   I also gave away three (two Melina Fleur tubers, one Pablo Gallery tuber).  And....Left on the patio are some slow-to-start ones.  These six *might* come to life, or they might be DOA.  This i...

2024 was the year of the dahlia around here.  I went A LOT further with dahlia tubers in 2024 than I've done in the past - including pre-ordering them, starting the tubers indoors, planting them in the ground, trying to prune them/cut the flowers at the right time/place and....most recently....attempting to overwinter some of the tubers - both in Saran Wrap as well as in the ground. Since the pre-ordering thing went so well this past season, I figured while Longfield Gardens was having a sale on their Dahlia tubers, why not order a bunch to arrive in Spring. Last year, I ordered Melina Fleur and Cornell Bronze .   This year, I ordered three varieties:  Maarn Ball Dahlias Sweet Nathalie Decorative Dalias Pablo Decorative Border Dahlias. Below is a screenshot from my order: They arrive in April, but I'm already thinking about where to grow these Dahlias.  The Pablo tubers were a 'bulk order', so I will have a good-sized colony of these (if they're successful...eek...