Why I Oughta...

Another morning in September means that dahlia-cutting time.   With two Pooh Collarette Dahlia plants (one on the sideyard cutting garden and the other back in the new pizza oven bed), we're starting to get to the point where we have eight-to-ten blooms at one time.  Instead of the previous onesie-twosie.  The last time I posted about these was two weeks ago (looks like we're on a two-week bloom cycle) and had seven-or-eight at that time).   The colors of these are so striking and the contrast is so strong that (so far), I've only put them in a monoculture arrangement.   Thinking about the color, I went to look at some other Collarette Dahlias that Longfield Gardens lists on their site.  Before I get to talking about a few, I didn't know this (from Longfield Gardens): Collarette dahlias are all the rage in England and increasingly popular here. I'm not the only one becoming fascinated by them it seems. Knowing that....now here's a few that ...

With two Pooh Collarette Dahlia plants growing in our garden, I was able to clip-off seven-or-eight blooms and put them in a vase this week.  The Pooh Dahlia in our backyard is more productive than the one in our sideyard garden, despite it growing in poor-er soil conditions.  The backyard tuber was planted in the new (this year) Pizza Oven bed that is full of clay.  The sideyard Pooh Dahlia is planted in a bed that is rich with loam and municipal biosolids.   But...the sideyard plant has been UNDER ASSAULT by Spider Mites the past month.  Since we came back from Ireland, the plant has struggled.  I think I've finally gotten on top of the pest problem and I'm seeing some fresh, new green growth.  So, I'm hoping it will keep producing over the next six-weeks-or-so. Below is a photo of the all (only) Pooh Collarette Dahlia arrangement.  In a vase.  No foliage or filler plants.  Just the red and yellow blooms.   The Pooh Coll...

A few red and yellow Pooh Collarette dahlia blooms along with a clipping of some green and white Polka Dot Plant in an apt vase/glass (Pooh for President) make this an easy, but interesting arrangement.  More than ten (10) years ago, I posted about this glass that features a political candidate Winnie the Pooh from the fine folks at Sears.  The whole country is "Pooh Country".   This is my only Collarette dahlia, but won't be my last.  This Kelsey Annie Joy Collarette dahlia looks quite nice .  "Add to cart", right? 

I showed-off one of these new (to me) dahlias in a post last week that included some ball dahlias but one collarette dahlia named Pooh.  Of course it is, right?  It is red and yellow and adorable.  It is a collarette dahlia and this is the first (and only) one of those that I'm growing.   First...some photos of Pooh Dahlia with yellow centers and red petals: Swan Island Dahlias describes Pooh :  "A collarette color that is just plain cute! 3 1/2" bright orange blooms outlined in bright yellow, with a yellow collar make this one hard to miss. Very prolific bloomer on a 4 1/2' plant. Incredible garden color and holds well as a cutflower too." I'm at the point where I can agree on the first part (plain cute, hard-to-miss), but waiting on the second part (prolific bloomer and holds well as cut flower).   Based on how this one looks, I'll add a few more collarette tubers to my cart this Fall.  

Another summer arrangement.  But, this one features two new - recently blooming - things:  Lucky Charm Anemone and Pooh Dahlia.  You can look at the photo below and immediately know which one is named Pooh.  It is a collarette dahlia - my first one of those.  Also in here are a few Melina Fleur, Mystery Fox, Wizard of Oz and one Sweet Nathalie dahlias.   

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...