Why I Oughta...

Dahlia season is just about here.  And, the pace of blooms is picking up.  That is....as long as I can fight off pests.  Mites, earwigs, Japanese Beatles, Budworms.  They're all here and working HARD against me. Year of Cut Flowers continues with this dahlia-centric arrangement.  I tucked in a spray of Ghost Fern and Garden Ghost (Two "ghosts" in our garden), some Lucky Charm Anemone and even a couple of Cascade Hops.

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...