Why I Oughta...

 Earlier this Spring, I bought a package of three Orange Nugget Dahlia tubers at big box retail .  They were billed as being compact - less than 30" - and were...well...orange.  So, it was a no-brainer.  I started the tubers inside, but moved them out after the threat of frost had passed.  I planted them in the new 'cut flower' bed on the southside of the house .   From the beginning, these Orange Nuggets were behind my other dahlias - specifically the Melina Fleur and Cornell Bronze varieties.   But, over the past month or so, the plant grew up and out.  And...now - in Late September - is full of blooms and buds.  Below is a look at what these Orange Nugget Dahlia plants look like in the morning: I count seven-or-eight blooms in that photo and a dozen-or-more buds that will open soon.  They're not huge, but nice-sized flowers.  I'd describe them as 'delicate'.    The stems, however...are also 'delicate'.  Or...maybe a better way to say it is that t

Last year, I planted a bunch of Drumstick Allium in different spots around the garden .  Some in front, some on the side, some in back.  Timing-wise, these are the *latest* blooming Allium that we have now.  All of other varieties have come and gone.  But these?  They're in bloom RIGHT NOW - mid-July.   I'm sure what I expected, but these are really lovely looking flowers.  Small.  MUCH smaller than a globemaster or Purple Sensation.  And, really tall.  Like, a lollipop.  I'm talking 30" super thin stems with a golf-ball-sized bloom on the tip.  That SUPER THIN stem plus the golf-ball-sized bloom means that these things are swooping.  They don't stand up straight.  They're swoopers.  I kinda like them that way and it is something that I can keep playing with planting-wise.  They're VERY informal, so not what I normally see when I see alliums popping up. Below, you can see a few of them 'swooping' across the All Gold Japanese Forest grasses - mixed i