My Obsession with Dahlias

I was home in bed all weekend, I've been sick for over two weeks with this nasty respiratory virus that just won't quit. Matt and I both started at the same time, but of course while I am good at being proactive with his health (doctor appts and meds and rest), I am not so good about it with myself, trying to tough it out until I'm having trouble breathing. Matt is better, I am not. So as you can imagine, the house looks like a bomb went off rolled in a disaster smothered in messy sauce. You have to literally wade through toys. There are no clear surfaces. My eye might be twitching but I'm following doctor's orders to rest, because I can't take being sick anymore and I really can't clean when I can't even take a deep breath. So I'm resting and recuperating and doing other things. Ignore the mess.

ANYWAYS. What I have been doing is planning the garden. And the yard. In detail. I've ordered my dahlia bulbs and garden seeds, made plans for spring. I'm so excited!

I'm going to share the raised bed garden plan this week in separate post, because I have PLANS with lots of DETAILS because the garden is new and my dream garden and this will be the first year I get to plant it for a full season. CAN YOU TELL I AM SO EXCITED?!

Today I want to focus on DAHLIAS. Dahlias have always been one of my favorite flowers, alongside zinnias and peonies. When I first started gardening I ordered a bunch of dahlia bulbs and I was so busy with a million other things, I didn't give them the extra bit of care they needed. Most died the first year, and all but one (my purple Thomas Edison) died in year two. I bought a couple more, killed those too and then pretty much gave up for a while with the exception of my two workhorses that refused to die no matter how badly I treated them - the purple Thomas Edison and a short dahlia with pink-yellow blooms that I didn't have a name for. I called it a "medium sunset dahlia" for its medium height and sunset colored blooms. I couldn't find the name of it online, the pink-yellow blooms were similar to popular varieties but not quite right and all of them were tall dahlia plants.

This year I found the name when browsing Longfield Gardens website (directed there by the Impatient Gardener from her dahlia shopping). It's a Gallery Pablo! The exact same flower coloring, the short plants, the same prolific blooming. I'm so happy to finally have a name for it after all these years.

Hello Gallery Pablo! My favorite dahlia of garden beds and borders. (Photos from Longfield Gardens)


Garden Beds and Borders
Assuming that all my dahlia bulbs survive the winter after being properly stored and divided thanks to video tutorials from floret, I should have lots to work with next year in my garden beds around the yard. These are all in my basement right now: Gallery Pablo, Bishop of Llandaff, Thomas Edison, Duet, Daisy Duke, Cornel Bronze and a big mix of short Figaro dahlias in pink, red, orange, purple and yellow. I also have two Bishop's Children dahlias that didn't bloom last year (they were placed in shady spots and didn't thrive) that could be any off the colors from the bottom right (orange, red, yellow or pink). I still have seeds leftover from last year too, so I want to plant a couple more hoping to get orange/pink/yellow to compliment the red ones (Bishop of Llandaff) I already have.

(Photos from Leafari, Longfield Gardens and Park Seed)

Thomas Edison, Duet, Daisy Duke and Cornel Bronze are tall dahlias that need full support. Gallery Pablo, Bishop of Llandaff and the Bishop's Children dahlias are all medium height and need just a little support. The Figaro dahlias are all short and grow into big balls of green with colorful flowers and don't need anything but sunshine and space to grow. Some of these have designated spots in the garden where they will go in the spring, but most of these do not because my dahlia obsession is now out of control. Luckily the garden border between the driveway and the fence needs a serious face lift and will be the perfect spot for a dahlia border in between the perennials.


Cutting Garden Dahlias
In the raised bed garden, here's a preview of what I'm planning in the dedicated dahlia bed - a mix of gorgeous dahlias in shades of pink, coral and orange in a variety of sizes and textures. 4 of these I already have and 6 of these will arrive in late March. When choosing the varieties, I considered my favorite colors (pinks and corals) and then went for a range of sizes and shapes - primarily thinking about how they would look in bouquets in my house. Last year it was such a treat to have so many bouquets from all the flowers in the raised bed garden, it made me extremely happy and something I want to repeat. We have the space for it and I selected dahlias that make my heart flutter.

The dahlias include: Belle of Barmera, Fairway Spur, Labyrinth, Preference, Cornel Bronze, Daisy Duke, Totally Tangerine, Peaches and Cream, Apricot Desire, and Duet.

((Photos from Leafari)

Belle of Barmera: big dinnerplate dahlia in pink, peach, magenta and coral with twisty petals
Fairway Spur: big dinnerplate dahlia in salmon with pinched petal tips
Labyrinth: a popular classic, dinnerplate dahlia in shades of apricot, pink, peach
Preference: medium dahlia in shades of peach, pink and salmon with cactus petals
Cornel Bronze: a small to medium dahlia in shades or orange and corals, pom pom shape
Daisy Duke: a medium dahlia in shades of fucshia, magenta, coral
Totally Tangerine: an anenome dahlia in shades of orange, coral, peach, pink in unique anenome shape
Peaches and Cream: a medium dahlia in shades or peach and pink
Apricot Desire: a medium dahlia in shades or orange and yellow
Duet: a medium dahlia with red, wine and white petals. It's very striking, but was sent to me by mistake (I ordered a Belle of Barmera and got a refund because it was late in the season).

If I could, I'd also squeeze in a Thomas Edison and a Gallery Pablo. The Thomas Edison would balance out the dark Duet and the Gallery Pablo would balance out the Totally Tangerine because they are both medium height dahlias and could be planted on the end facing the sun. But dahlias need 12-18" of space and the bed is 4x8 ft... so limiting myself to 10 is safer. And then next year I can move Duet out and order one of the other bulbs I'm eyeing, like a Penhill Watermelon, Jowey Winnie or Bed Head. (In the name of "self control" I told myself I was limited to getting 4 new dahlias this year, like last year, and that's it. Which turned into 5 when I remembered that technically I received a refund for Belle of Barmera last summer since it turned out to be a Duet. And then 5 turned into 6 because I don't really have much self control at all when it comes to plants and flowers... just ask Mike when I get home from shopping at Trader Joe's. Or Home Depot. Or Ikea. Or basically any place that sells inexpensive plants.)

Now I'm going back to browsing my rose catalogs. Especially this one.