Delight in Dahlias

by Erin

I have planted quite a bit of new life in my backyard this summer, but there is one species that really stands out.  One that draws me to my yard every morning and every night.  One that has me catching a quick peek as I pass the window that looks out on to the back yard. 

Dahlias. 

Arabian Nights Dahlias

 These beauties have been blooming for me since the beginning of July, and here we are, a month later, and they are still full of blooms.  And with those new buds all over, they don't show any signs of stopping!  The deep red color of the Arabian Night variety is absolutely stunning. 

Pink and yellow dahlias

Here is another variety that I just love.  The morning sun was blazing when I took these so I'm not sure if you can see the yellow in these coral beauties.  The buds start out yellow and as they open the expose a beautiful coral and yellow flower.  Gorgeous. 

yellow dinner plate dahlia

The final variety that I have is the famed 'dinner plate' dahlia because (you guessed it!) they are as big as dinner plates.  Here's a far away view so you can see I'm not joshing you.

Isn't that fabulous? The dinner plate dahlia is a little slower to develop, and I can see why (hence, huge flower).  I've only had one flower at a time on it, but it currently has about 8 buds on it that seem fairly even in growth, so I can't wait to see how that turns out. 

In zone 5 (where I live) I've got to pull these bulbs out of the earth in the fall, which I didn't know if I would care to do, but after a month of constant beautiful blooms, with fairly minimal care (some water here and there) I know I made the right decision.  I will happily pull them up this fall so they are ready to bloom next summer.