I'd expected to have more dahlias in bloom by mid-August. As it stands, only two varieties have produced flowers fit for cutting so far but that's better than none! This is the latest season start date since I first started growing dahlias in 2018 but then our extended cool season pushed everything forward six or more weeks. I hope that means that the dahlia season will continue well into November but there's no guarantee that the weather will support that.
Dahlia 'Catching Fire' deserves its name as, once it got started, it's pumped out one flower after another.
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I sacrificed several buds to get 3 mature blooms to include in this arrangement
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Back view: I cut the last 2 remaining white Agapanthus to flesh out the arrangement. My garden is relatively short on white flowers at the moment.
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Top view: I used the red foliage of Leucadendron 'Chief' to echo the red color in the dahlias
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Clockwise from the upper left: noID Agapanthus, Dahlia 'Catching Fire', Angelonia 'Archangel White', 'Candy Mix' Zinnia elegans in shades of cream and white, and Leucadendron salignum 'Chief'
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I cut the first flower produced by Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda' for my second vase.
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Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda' is classified as a late bloomer, yet it seems at the head of the pack this year. In this case, I made do with a short stem to avoid sacrificing 2 fat side buds.
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Back view: I cut 3 of the last stems on the only foxglove I've yet to pull out of my cutting garden
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left: Cosmos bipinnatus, Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Purple', Polygala myrtifolia, Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda', and Zinnia elegans 'Benary Giant Purple'
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Although my August garden is lighter on flowers overall than I'd like, some flowers are working extra hard to take up the slack and I couldn't bring myself to ignore them so here's my third vase:
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Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' burst into bloom a few days ago and I used a range of pinky-peach zinnias to complement its flowers
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Back view
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Top view
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Clockwise from the upper left: Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', Cuphea 'Honeybells', Leucadendron 'Jester', peach-colored Zinnia elegans 'Candy Mix', Z. e. 'Lemon Peach', and 2 Z. e. 'Queen Lime Orange' at different stages of bloom
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Our marine layer has returned, although it usually clears out before 9am. It's nonetheless kept our temperatures between the upper 70s and low 80sF (25-27C) last week and the local forecast suggests we should get more of the same this week. Our humidity remains relatively high but, with temperatures still soaring elsewhere in the country, we're counting ourselves lucky.
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
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material © 2012-2023
by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
