Why I Oughta...

The season REALLY *is* winding down now.  And the colors of the Melina Fleur dahlias are changing color to be much more middle-pink with little yellow appearing aside from the center seed head.  These three went out the door to folks all at the same time.  They each have some Dusty Miller, Arkansas Bluestar and some fern fronds in them.  Each of them are in thrifted or recycled jars (mason or jelly).  My rough count shows that these are (around) the 40th arrangement of the season.  A few with roses, but mostly these ball, pompon and decorative dahlias.

Yesterday, I posted a photo of four freshly prepared dahlia arrangements and talked about how I've begun to *exclusively* use jars and vases that fit neatly into a cup holder for ease of transportation.  But, if you were an eagle-eyed reader (and...who amongst us isn't?), you may have noticed that one of the jars in that same post isn't a mason jar or an upright vase.  And, it likely doesn't fit neatly into a car's cupholder.  Because it is a mug.  With a handle.  A glass mug.  A root beer mug.   Here, below are a couple of photos of this vintage glass Dad's Root Beer Mug that I picked up for less than a buck at Goodwill recently: A few things about this mug: First...it is very heavy.  The weight alone tells me that it is old.  They don't make glass mugs like this any longer. Second...it is from Dad's Root Beer.  This might not mean much to you, but it means the world to me.  Why?  Because it is *my Dad's* favorite root be...

Yes, the season is ending soon.  And, yes, we still have plenty of flowers.  There's some thinking around 'letting your dahlias go to seed' and stop 'deadheading' them weeks before your first frost.  That way, they can finish up their growing cycle and begin to wind down and put energy back into their tubers.  But, I'm thinking....that's for professional growers.  People who are in the business of selling tubers.  Me?  I'm (apparently) in the business of cutting dahlias and putting them in mason jars along with some other bits of foliage from around the garden.  Here, below, are four recent arrangements.  All the same.  It is, for me, getting a little monotonous.  But, that's not the case for the recipients.  These four went to four different places - some on our block, some as gifts and others to my Mom and Sister.    Speaking of gifts....some good news:  I was able to get back about a half-dozen jars.  I'v...

Below are two photos of the same (recent) Dahlia arrangement featuring some large(r) Melina Fleur Decorative Dahlia blooms and some dark purple Ivanetti Ball Dahlia blooms.  In one photo, you can see the Melina Fleur blooms have taken on a salmon, pink color.  Spinning the (vintage, thrifed, blue-glass) Ball Jar around, you can spy the Ivanetti that have some white creating contrast on the petals.   The season is coming to an end, it seems.  But that also means the flowers are changing colors.  Gone are the yellows of earlier this year with Melina Fleur and here are rosy pinks.  Enjoy these while we can, because frost is a'coming.  Might be next week.  Might be the week after.  Either way...we can't stop it from arriving and killing off the dahlias for the season. 

The Babe had to go to a dinner recently and we both thought it would be a nice to bring an arrangement to adorn the table.  As I've done in the past, I cut a big collection of just one flower:  The Pooh Collarette Dahlia.  I massed them together in a jar and didn't add anything else.  No greens, no accents.  Just the flowers.  And a lot of them:

Another day, another dahlia cut flower arrangement.  The usual suspects:  Melina Fleur, Wizard of Oz, Avanetti, Mystery Fox.  Along with some Autumn Fern fronds, Garden Ghost Artemesia and a Lucky Charm Anemone stem.  All tucked into a white Milk Glass vase.  This one was put together very quickly and sent out the door to Nat's good friend for her birthday.  

Yesterday, I posted a Google Gemini AI-created video short of some dahlia arrangements .  Today, above, you can see the full photo of all four arrangements.  All similar, but a little different.  In thrifted, Goodwill vases.  One is in a thrifted Bears glass.  These went to four different homes over the weekend.   In these are various ball, decorative and pompon dahlias:  Avanetti, Wizard of Oz, Melina Fleur and Mystery Fox.  Along with some Dusty Miller and Autumn Ferns.