In a Vase on Monday: Dahlia season is on!

Nine of my dahlias are still in a holding pattern but five plants have produced blooms so I think I can officially declare dahlia season open.  The majority of my dahlias didn't show up until September last year so at least the season looks brighter this year, even though I lost several tubers along the way.

Dahlia 'Calin' was the first of my plants to produce buds but, as they began to open in late June, I found that the flowers were malformed.  After treating the ant and aphid infestation I discovered and discarding the distorted blooms, the plant has recovered.  

'Calin' is a bush-type dahlia with smaller blooms than most of those I grow but it's very floriferous

Back view: I used Corokia stems to support the rest of the plant material

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', Alstroemeria 'Claire', Antirrhinum majus 'Double Azalea Bronze', Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash', Dahlia 'Calin', and Grevillea 'Poorinda Leane'

'Enchantress' started blooming en masse at the end of last week, earning it a place in a second arrangement.

In a stroke of luck, the 'Benary's Giant Purple' Zinnias I grew from seed bloomed on the heels of Dahlia 'Enchantress'

I used a few short foxglove stems and 3 stems of the paler Daucus carota that self-seeded in my back border to dress up the back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Daucus carota 'Dara' (aka wild carrot), Digitialis purpurea (foxglove), Dahlia 'Enchantress, and Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Purple'

Last week's Delphinium stems held up surprisingly well.  The remnants of that arrangement ended up on our kitchen island.

The Delphinium florets are now tinged a lavender-pink rather than their original vivid cobalt blue.  The white Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) is also a holdover from last week.

For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2022by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party