Why I Oughta...

The dahlias are going wild.  Warmer days and cooler nights right now.  Before...the inevitable frost that is on the horizon.  (Hopefully not too soon, though).   This week, I documented my 20-something arrangement of the season .  This post shows another one.   Including: Great Silence, Milena Fleur, Ivanetti, Blue Wish, Saint Martin, Crichton Honey, Wizard of Oz dahlias.  And, a single spray of Silver Dollar Eucalyptus peeking out the top.  Here it is on a couple of sides of the jar on our counter: Here, below, is how they looked as I cut them.  The lighting in the mornings makes the colors pop. Wizard of Oz (the pale pink one on the bottom right) changes a bit as the season goes on in terms of petal-holding.  Earlier in the Summer, every Wizard of Oz that I'd cut would drop petals almost immediately.  Now? They stay on much longer.  Wonder what is driving that behavior?  I really like Wizard of Oz, but if it is...

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...

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.  

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.  

We had a pretty big rain storm a week or so ago that brought with it some welcomed precipitation.  It also battered some of my plants and trees.  Downed branches and (in a couple of cases) bent-over dahlias and other plants.  I scurried around and straightened everything out and found the dahlias that weren't staked (enough) and tried to provide some support.   I also cut a bunch of things and brought them in for an arrangement for one of Nat's friends.  The Saint Martin dahlias are on very long, thin stems while the Melina Fleur dahlias (decorative) are (for now) on short, stubby ones.  And, the Plectranthus Silver Shield is plentiful.  But, I still don't quite know the best way to use it in an arrangement.  The underside of the foliage is (to me) the star, but when I tuck some of it in the vase, the underside sort-of disappears.  There's also a spring of Silver Dollar Eucalyptus in here that I'm still learning about how best to cut to...

Yesterday, I posted a couple of photos of my first (real) flush of dahlia blooms that I cut off the plants in the various spots around our garden .  Those included some "known" varieties including Wizard of Oz, Creme de Cognac, Burlesca and Blue Wish.  I said "known" because there was also a semi-cactus dark maroon dahlia that came labeled as Rip City, but is clearly NOT Rip City. Today, I'm posting some photos of some additional dahlia blooms that I cut the following day.  These, too, include mostly "known" dahlias.  And...one unknown. First...the "known".   The biggest of the bunch is Blue Wish.  And, I'll say that I might have a new favorite dahlia?  This looks like it is painted with a watercolor set.  Pale purples and whites.  Perfectly shaped. Next up is a Saint Martin Dahlia.  This one came in a combo pack from Longfield Gardens via Costco (photo of the bag below).  And, was a new-to-me variety, but the 30" height (other...

A couple of days ago, I posted the details of the eight-pack of dahlia tubers that I picked up at Costco on a recent visit.  The tubers are from a source that I've purchased many tubers/bulbs from: Longfield Gardens.  And, this eight-pack featured four tubers of two different varieties.  I already posted about the four Rip City dahlias (they're informal decorative dahlias).  Today, I'm posting about the other four:  Saint Martin dahlias.   I mentioned that these were both new (to me) varieties, but I was drawn to their heights.  My preference is towards shorter varieties that don't have the same staking/support requirements of many other dahlias.  Below is a photo of the back of the package showing the Saint Martin stats.  Note the spacing (20") and height (30").   And, here below is the front of the package showing the Saint Martin having slightly smaller blooms that are two-toned in white and pink.   Besides the he...