The dahlias are oh so slowly making an appearance. There are more buds each week, although the plants still haven't delivered an overwhelming number of blooms and, at this point in the season, it's unlikely that I'm going to see an end-of-season extravaganza but I can hope...
My first arrangement features a single bloom of Dahlia 'Summer's End'. I'd initially planned to combine it with other dahlias but in the end I decided it had more impact with a collection of supporting players in harmonious colors.
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| 'Summer's End' is called a water lily dahlia because it resembles a water lily in form. I complemented its soft peach color with other plants that echoed that color. |
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| Back view: I just happened to notice that the berries of Auranticarpa rhombifolium were ripening. Including stems of Zinnia 'Queen Lime Orange' as a filler was a no-brainer. |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Auranticarpa rhombifolium, Leucadendron salignum 'Summer Red', Dahlia 'Summer's End', Eriocapitella hupehensis (aka Japanese anemone), Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream, and Zinnia elegans 'Queen Lime Orange' |
I collected flowers of two dahlias in the 'Cafe au Lait' series, thinking to combine them but, the more flowers and foliage I collected to accent them, the more I disliked the pairing. So I ended up with two separate arrangements, the first of which stars the creamy blooms of Dahlia 'Cafe au Lait'.
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| The Dahlia 'Cafe au Lait' blooms, especially the one on the lower right, are somewhat distorted. The upper part of the lower bloom didn't fully open. Both dahlias were full of ants, which I spent time carefully flushing out with water. I checked online and found that, while ants won't cause any damage to dahlia blooms, their presence suggests that there may be an aphid problem and aphids can damage dahlia plants. |
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| I dressed up the back of the arrangement with colorful coleus foliage (Plectranthus scutellarioides 'Dragon Heart') |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Correa 'Ivory Bells' (aka Australian fuchsia), Dahlia 'Care au Lait', noID Gladiolus, Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Plectranthus scutellarioides 'Dragon Heart', and Zinnia elegans 'Queen Red Lime' |
The two blooms of Dahlia 'Cafe au Lait Royal' I'd already cut ended up in a third arrangement, with a few stems of Dahlia 'Enchantress' thrown into the mix to flesh it out. Once 'Enchantress' starts blooming, she never hits the pause button.
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| Dahlia 'Cafe au Lait Royal' changes a lot as the flower matures, starting off a dark purple infused with pink and fading to a much paler pink |
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| Back view, showing the splashier Dahlia 'Enchantress' |
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| Top view |
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Top row: Angelonia 'Archangel White', Cosmos bipinnatus, and Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy'
Middle row: Dahlia 'Cafe au Lait Royal' in its later and earlier colors
Bottom row: Dahlia 'Enchantress' and Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata' |
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
