Three of these are NOIDs I photographed last week at Lowe's; the two speckled/striped ones are from a mixed group that were identified as D. 'Fireworks.'
The first and last pictures are my favorites.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Pretty pictures: Dahlia cvv.
It turns out that I don't have particularly strong feelings one way or the other about Dahlias. I sort of feel like I ought to -- there are certainly some very vocal Dahlia enthusiasts out there -- but I can't work up much more than a resounding meh. This is perhaps a character defect, though I'm inclined to blame it on the fact that a lot of other kinds of flowers -- daisies, chrysanthemums, Zinnias -- do similar kinds of flowers. Dahlias lack distinctness, for me, I guess is what I'm saying.
Three of these are NOIDs I photographed last week at Lowe's; the two speckled/striped ones are from a mixed group that were identified as D. 'Fireworks.'
The first and last pictures are my favorites.
Three of these are NOIDs I photographed last week at Lowe's; the two speckled/striped ones are from a mixed group that were identified as D. 'Fireworks.'
The first and last pictures are my favorites.
I'm not a Dahlia enthusiast, and especially not of dwarf dahlias for bedding. But check out 'Bishop of Llandaff', a garden workhorse and one of the few I'd take the trouble of overwintering. Scarlet flowers are single and small (which for some tastes is a very good thing) but it's floriferous, blooms over a very long season, can get tall (to 5'), foliage is purple and relatively fine-textured, and like all dahlias it's great for cutting if you like cut flowers.
ReplyDeleteDon
Wow, love that first photo! Makes me want to go out and get some dahlias, though I swore I wouldn't this year.
ReplyDeleteI hate dahlias and I don't know why.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who has lined her entire 10x15 backyard and most of her front yard with almost nothing but dahlias! It looks divine and she has cut flowers in her house and office from June to as late as October. She's always inviting people to come cut an arrangement for themselves, too, and she still has plenty left over for herself.
ReplyDeleteIt's a huge amount of work, though, since she has to dig up the bulbs every fall and plant them all back again in May.
I'm not much a fan, either. If I go for big blooms, I tend to go for the trumpety shaped ones, like brugmansias. I'm also prefer my outdoor plants to serve some dual use, and I don't think you can eat Dahlias or use them medically. They're nice and all, but I would not waste resources on them.
ReplyDeleteSnails eat Dahlias like you wouldn't believe. They weren't worth the fight for me.
ReplyDeleteDahlias are 'meh'. :) I do have an awful lot of pictures from a few summers ago - can't pass a flower without taking a picture, and there were a lot of varieties at that horticultural show - but I wouldn't plant any in my garden if I had one.
ReplyDeletePaul, from what I've read, Dahlia flowers are edible - I tried a petal once, but didn't like it. Too bitter. Common problem with Asteraceae, of course.
I was going to mention 'Bishop of Llandaff' (though I didn't know its name before just now) or any of the other dark leaved varieties. The very large very double ones don't do much for me but the leaves alone on 'Bishop of Llandaff' are worth growing it.
ReplyDelete