I've been fretting off and on about when to clear my cutting garden of the dahlias that have done so well this year. Given their vigor, I anticipated that the majority could hold up well into November if I allowed it, which meant that my cool season garden would get off to a very late start. While the dahlias were negatively impacted by the severe heatwave we had in September, they'd come roaring back and even the two stragglers finally offered blooms as our temperatures cooled down. However, my predictions about the dahlias' staying power failed to take account of Southern California's virulent Santa Ana winds. As a life-long resident of Southern California, how I managed to miss that factor in making my predictions suggests an element of delusion on my part. The fierce winds were actually fairly late this year, with the first major event kicking off last Friday. I lost more dahlia flowers overnight to the strong, dry winds than to the earlier heatwave. The top-heavy flowers snapped their stems and petals quickly withered. I'd hoped I could give away lots of flowers to neighbors when I pulled up the dahlia tubers but at the moment I suspect I may be squeaking by just to have sufficient blooms to fill one or two more vases next week.
The first few blooms of Dahlia 'Belle of Barmera' opened this weekend but I cut only one stem, filling in my first vase with two stems of Dahlia 'Fairway Spur'. The latter had performed nose dives in response to the wind's ferocity.
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| I also included zinnias and Grevillea stems to add interest |
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| Back view |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Cuphea 'Honeybells', Grevillea 'Superb', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Dahlia 'Belle of Barmera', D. 'Fairway Spur', Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Coral', and Z. e. 'Zinfandel Peach' |
Unlike the dahlias, my seed-sown zinnias were hardly bothered by the wind. I cut a lot of them for this week's arrangements and made them the centerpiece of my second vase.
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| The largest zinnias shown here were all grown from seed as 'Benary's Giant Wine' but some are noticeably darker than others, as evidenced in this photo. I added 2 stems of Amarine, hybrids of Amaryllis belladonna and Nerines, to lighten the combination somewhat. |
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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', Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Amarine belladive 'Emanuelle', 2 variations of Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Wine', and Z. e. 'Zinfandel Lilac' |
I threw a handful of stems of Dahlia 'Summer's End' and a couple zinnias into a small vase for the kitchen island.
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| This vase also contains a single stem of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' |
Our morning marine layer deserted us while the winds were blowing but we're expecting its return here along the coast as early as tomorrow, which should bring our temperatures back down into the 70sF (21-26C) and raise our humidity to a more comfortable level. Time permitting, I may start digging up the most woebegone of my dahlias tubers later this week. I put out a handful of small bottles containing flowers late yesterday afternoon but it's possible the wind may take them out before anyone stops by to pick them up.
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| Most of what was really battered went into our green bin but the flowers I cut to give away had a couple days of life in them. If they're scattered all over the street in the morning, I'll know that was a useless gesture. |
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy in Rambling in the Garden, the leader of the merry band of flower arrangers working with what we have on hand in our own gardens.
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
