I finally got blooms from one of my tardy dahlias. As the tuber for this one was purchased during an end-of-season sale, it wasn't actually all that slow to sprout - it simply got a late start. However, the dahlia tuber I ordered was 'Akita', purchased because the 'Akita' tubers I'd saved and divided last year failed to sprout. As the replacement tuber's first buds opened, it became clear that it wasn't what I'd ordered. What it is still isn't entirely clear. There are a LOT of red and white dahlias and, if you look them up online, there seems to be a degree of variability among all of them. It could be 'Catching Fire', 'Duet', 'Rebecca's World' or something else altogether. As blogger friend Hoover Boo of Piece of Eden said the flower reminded her of her own 'Catching Fire' and that's the first in line alphabetically on my list of likeliest candidates, I'm going to call it that for ease of reference.
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Much as I love Dahlia 'Akita', I'm already very fond of this striking imposter as well
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Back view
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Alstroemeria 'Inca Lucky', Dahlia 'Catching Fire' (maybe), Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Leucadendron salignum 'Blush', and Prunus caroliniana
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Dahlia 'Lavender Ruffles' came through with three more huge blooms this week and those ended up in my second arrangement. I planted two 'Lavender Ruffles' tubers but, when one failed to sprout, I bought a plant already in bloom at my local garden center. I cut off most of the original blooms as it was clear that the plant hadn't been pinched back before it flowered and it took a protracted pause before bouncing back. The surviving tuber has sprouted and looks healthy but I'm still waiting for it to produce buds.
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The dahlia's flowers are a pinky-lavender. I had difficulty finding flowers in compatible colors so I relied on white flowers.
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I dressed up the back using a couple of Cosmos blooms and a stem of the very interesting Pelargonium graveolens 'Colocho'. Both the Pelargonium's stems and the leaves are twisted. It has a delicious scent.
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left: more Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Cosmos bipinnatus, Dahlia 'Lavender Ruffles', Eustoma grandiflorum 'Balboa Blue Rim', white Eustoma, and Pelargonium graveolens 'Colocho' (known as 'Bontrosai' in the UK). The bi-color Lisianthus (Eustoma) mostly threw in the towel in response to summer's heat over the past 2 weeks.
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Growing dahlias this year has been a mixed bag. A couple of my tubers rotted and a few others failed to sprout or produce roots. I may have planted some too early, when the soil was still too cool to promote growth, or allowed some of the tubers in temporary pots to get too damp, promoting rot; however, even the remaining tubers took longer than expected to sprout. It's also possible that some of the tubers I divided and saved were "blind" (i.e. missing the eyes required if a tuber is to sprout). Eleanor Perenyi, author of 'Green Thoughts', recommended giving up efforts to divide the plants if lifted at the end of their season, preferring to plant intact clumps the following season. I think that's what I'm going to do next year as I noted that two clumps I saved and cleaned up but didn't cut up were among the first to bloom and most vigorous. At present, I have two plants with buds that haven't yet bloomed ('Pink Petticoat' and 'Mikayla Miranda'), another that produced just one bloom earlier and currently has several buds ('Karma Prospero'), and four plants that appear healthy but have yet to produce buds (two 'Fairway Spur', the aforementioned 'Lavender Ruffles', and 'La Luna'). Meanwhile, 'Calin', 'Enchantress', 'Iceberg', 'Southern Belle', and 'Summer's End' are stars. 'Break Out', apparently left over in 'Calin's' pot, paid a surprise visit but it's yet to be determined whether it will provide more than a cameo performance.
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2022by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
