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...

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.  

The last time I shared photos of some cut flower arrangements here on the garden diary was back in early August .  Since then, I've cut and put together a number of countertop arrangements.  For our kitchen.  For friends.  For neighbors.  Here are a few below.   In this jade-colored hobnail vase that I've used a number of times this year is a mixed ALL dahlia cut flower arrangement featuring:  Rip City semi-cactus dahlia, Blue Wish dahlia, Milena Fleur decorative dahlia, Wizard of Oz dahlia, Jowey Winnie, and a bunch of Saint Martin dahlias. In this smaller milkglass vase is a similar selection of dahlias:  Blue Wish, Jowey Winnie, Milena Fleur.  But also some Brown Sugar and some Silver Dollar Eucalyptus that I snipped off one of the plants: Here, below is that same jade-colored hobnail vase with a different set of dahlias.  Some that I cut longer/taller like the Pooh collarette ones.  And those Saint Martins on long stems....

Another day and even more dahlias cut off their stems.  And, these are cut deeply as the experts suggest one does early (is it still early in the dahlia-growing season??) for more prolific-blooming plants later in the year.  *Cue the Sheryl Crow* This mixed dahlia arrangement (below) includes Ivanetti, Wizard of Oz, my first Great Silence (decorative) dahlia and the two semi-cactus/cactus "surprise" dahlias.  A dark one and a bubble gum pink one.  This is (maybe?) my tallest set of dahlia cut flowers in a vase since I've grown them.  There are also a significant number of buds that came with those long stems. Here, below, is a closer look at the first Great Silence Decorative Dahlia .  This one is mostly uniform in color with a pink/peach hue.   I bought two Great Silence tubers back in November of last year.   And, put them through my usual Spring dahlia program (starting them indoors in pots, moving them outoors) and planted two Great Silen...

The past few days, I've posted photos of the individual blooms that I've been snip'ing off the dahlia plants that are tucked into every available space in our garden.  That has lead to my first-of-the-season piecemeal cut flower arrangement.  On our kitchen counter.  [Countertop Flowers]. Yesterday, I showed a Blue Wish, Saint Martin and a random pink Cactus dahlia .  Day before was Burlesca, Wizard of Oz, Creme de Cognac and a "Rip City ".   Put those all together and you get a cacophony of color and texture and type.   Below is flower arrangement #1 for the 2026 growing season. With no fillers aside from one small Lacy Blue Didiscus.   Mixed Dahlia Cut Flower Arrangement Have to get to Goodwill to find some jars because bloomin' season is upon us.  

I previously posted a photo and details of our first Wizard of Oz Pompon dahlia bloom from our backyard and talked about how it signaled the coming bloom season.   With mid-July arriving, a bunch of the dahlias are beginning to really pop-off.  This post is going up in mid-July, but these photos are from July 6th.   First up is Burlesca.  One of the Burlesca dahlias planted in the "South Sun Wall" (also known as the sideyard garden) has the first few blooms fully opened .  Despite my hesitancy, I keep trying to 'cut deeply' the first few flowers to try to compel the plant to put out taller stems.  In this case, the first two came as a set.  See below.   These are hard to describe color-wise.  They are pink.  Sort-of.  They're also purple.  And a little peach down the sides.  Longfield says : " This adorable little dahlia may look pink at first glance, but what makes Burlesca so special is the way it also pu...

Dahlia season started early in 2026.  With a single, pink bloom of a Wizard of Oz dahlia.  This post is going up two weeks after I snipped this bloom.  So, dahlia season started in June 2026. Last year, my earliest blooming dahlia was Wizard of Oz with a bloom exactly one-year-ago today .  It was productive all the way until (at least) mid-October.   This year, I planted two Wizard of Oz tubers.  #20 and #40 on my full list .  One of them - in the Pizza Oven West bed has bloomed .  Sort-of in the 'crotch' of some of the stems.   The blooms on Wizard of Oz Pompon dahlia are pale pink with yellow centers.  This is such a welcome site as we enter the heat of the Summer: Wizard of Oz Dahlia - pale pink bloom with yellow centers. When I say that this first bloom grew in the 'crotch' of a couple of stems, the two photos below shows what I mean.  The first photo is from a couple of days before I put it.  While the second pho...

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.

We have two Wizard of Oz Dahlia plants in the front yard.  One IB2DWs and the other in the back of the Island Bed in the middle of the front yard.  Despite the one IB2DWs starting off much stronger, it has peter'ed out with tiny blooms that are (mostly) white.  The Island Bed Wizard of Oz Dahlia, on the other hand, is LOADED with pink ball dahlia blooms.  That, the bees are loving.  If you look closely at the photo below, you'll see bees all over the center of these dahlia blooms: The quality of the soil is very different in these two spots:  the Island bed is rich and full of compost and biosolids.  The IB2DWs bed is always 'hard to grow', full of clay and shallow with just a few inches of soil before you get to gravel.  

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.  

This was a birthday bouquet for a friend that includes a variety of dahlia blooms, a spray of Autumn Fern, some rosemary, Lucky Charm anemone and Artemesia Garden ghost for the upright white colors. The colors of some of the dahlias are changing as the season grows on: half of the Wizard of Oz have gotten much whiter.  The Melina Fleurs are darkening and the Ivanettis are doing what they do best:  showing off.

Here are a couple of dahlia-bloom-heavy arrangements that I brought over to Oakbrook Terrace this past weekend.  Both are filled with various dahlia types including pompon, ball and decorative.  Ivanetti and Mystery Fox are looking pretty good with their ombre looks.  And, the pinks of Wizard of Oz highlight the bright tones of Melina Fleur decorative dahlias.  There was one more that I cut and put-together at the same time, but I didn't get photos of it before it went off to its final home.  Both of these are in re-used jars.  A small yogurt jar on the left and a mason jar on the right.   These are different than the one I posted yesterday (two photos) and it is clear that dahlia bloom season is upon us.  

Below are a pair of photos showing one over-stuffed dahlia arrangement that is full of decorative (Melina Fleur), Ball (Mystery Fox,  Ivanetti) and Pompon (Wizard of Oz) blooms that range from (almost) white to very pale pink to bubble-gum pink to Salmon with yellow centers contrasting with some shades close to dark velvet.   I crammed all the stems into a narrow-mouth vase because I wanted it to fit into a car cup holder for ease of transport as this one was headed to Elmhurst for my sister. 

Another day, another mixed dahlia arrangement .  This one (below) includes some larger blooms from the Melina Fleur plants, a bunch of Ivanetti dark purple blooms and some smaller Wizard of Oz ball dahlias along with a little bit of eucalyptus, some rosemary, Dusty Miller and the Lucky Charm Anemones that are thriving right now in the back garden. The tags that show off the full catalog of dahlia arrangements include [ countertop flowers ], [ dahlia arrangement ] and [ arrangement ].  

Dahlia Season continues with pinks, purples, salmons and yellow centers.  Wizard of Oz, Melina Fleur, Mystery Fox and what I (now) think is Ivanetti dahlia blooms .   The Melina Fluers are coming into their own, but the Sweet Nathalie Dahlias continue to be VERY shy and unproductive.   I'm out of containers, so we either need to start to eat pickles (Claussen's, of course) and salsa, or I need to get to the Goodwill to see if they have any 99 cent narrow-mouth vases on the shelves.   Here is this morning's cut: