Once a handful of dahlias began to bloom last month, I thought the remainder would be close behind but it seems that their schedule and mine aren't in sync. Three of the stragglers have buds, while five other plants - all healthy - still show no signs of these. A possum (or raccoon) dug through the raised planters in my cutting garden on Saturday night, compromising the health of yet another plant, the last to sprout. While I wait out all the slow-pokes, I'm making the most of the six dahlias willing to offer flowers.
I've featured the yellow-flowered Dahlia 'Calin' in IAVOM posts twice already but this week I decided it was past time to show off Dahlia 'Summer's End'.
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'Summer's End' is classified as a water-lily dahlia. Beautiful as it is in form and color, I think Zinnia 'Queen Lime Orange' may have stolen the show.
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Back view
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Grevillea 'Superb', Dahlia 'Summer's End', and Zinnia elegans 'Queen Lime Orange'
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I've used Dahlia 'Southern Belle', the first of my dahlias to bloom this year, once before in a Monday post. This week I chose to pair it with Amaryllis belladonna flowers while they last. Our temperatures climbed into the mid-90sF/35C this weekend and the Amaryllis quickly showed signs of stress.
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Dahlia 'Southern Belle' helps ground the sugary sweet pale pink blooms of Amaryllis belladonna
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I dressed up the back view with some of the last Daucus carota 'Dara' (wild carrot) blooms, which are quickly going to seed. Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy' has reappeared to add liveliness to the arrangement.
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Daucus carota 'Dara', Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy', Amaryllis belladonna, Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Pelargonium schizopetalum, and Dahlia 'Southern Belle'
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As usual, there were leftovers among the flowers I cut. The humidity that accompanied the monsoonal weather in the desert areas to the east of us prompted another flush of bloom from Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid'. I'd planned to add the peachy flowers to the first arrangement to pick up the peach tones in Dahlia 'Summer's End'; however, the Callistemon's peachy-pink flowers didn't combine well with the Zinnia 'Queen Lime Orange' so the Callistemon was bounced, ending up in a small vase on the kitchen island.
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Left to right: Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', Zinnia elegans 'Carmine Rose' and noID pink Zinnia
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It looks like temperatures may drop slightly over the course of the week but humidity will remain high. Southern California's reputation for "dry heat" seems to be but a memory.
For more IAVOM posts, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2022by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
