OH dear, having a MOM taking her payments... Gotta love it, Benny! What a fine son you are...
Benny101 Aug 3, 2016 3:24 AM PDT
Greenville MI - zone 5b
There are a few blooms opening there at Moms , she pushed her walker out to the garden and shook the vase at me saying " hey this is empty " !!! Haha nothing like being subtle
She wanted this first year seedling but this is the first bloom so I want to watch it develope another day or two then she can have it , will flag the plant tonight , about a 6" bloom .
My first bloom on Heather, which is a new dahlia by one of our northwest dahlia folk (I don't remember which one). Very pretty but the stems are short so far.
FLflowerboy Aug 3, 2016 9:12 PM PDT
Name: Jon George Gainesville, FL ...crazy enough to grow dahlias in
Benny, how exciting to see one of your babies blooming for the first time!
PNWGal Aug 4, 2016 1:22 AM PDT
Name: Linda Portland OR, zone 8b
Benny, your Mom sounds like a real character! Nothing like the proper application of subtlety to get what you want!
PNWGal Aug 4, 2016 1:32 AM PDT
Name: Linda Portland OR, zone 8b
Here is my Mom's main dahlia patch. She has more in back, but in front is where she focuses her efforts. I talked her into using more fertilizer and spacing the plants farther apart, and darn it, now the plants need staking! So that was my job when I went to visit last weekend.
mandolls Aug 4, 2016 6:55 AM PDT
Name: Geof WI
Look great! - I tend to forget that dahlias grown in full sun are so much shorter than what I have growing. It makes them look so much more full of flowers, because there is half the amount of foliage. (and they are more floriferous in full sun too)
Linda, your mom's choice of colors is fantastic. Absolutely wonderful! And yes, Even more wonderful with a little fertilizer
Geof, I see what you mean about height and shade! Maybe that is why mine seem so short now that they have full day time sun...They used to be shaded half the afternoon.
I think I need piles of those for our 50th anniversary in 2018. No way I am wearing the family wedding dress again (It was made in 1910.)..but I could so go for masses of one of my favorite dahlias and maybe a palest lavender dress to match.
blown_dry Aug 4, 2016 12:24 PM PDT
Name: Amanda CA Redwood Coast - Zone 9b DahliaAddict.com
There's something about that picture of KA's Cloud that just makes me happy. Of course, masses of gorgeous dahlias often have that effect.
Love your mom's dahlia patch, Linda! I approve of her color selection too.
FLflowerboy Aug 4, 2016 3:36 PM PDT
Name: Jon George Gainesville, FL ...crazy enough to grow dahlias in
Loving the pictures, Linda & Geof!! It makes me pine for your cooler climates!
DahliaGardener Aug 4, 2016 3:44 PM PDT
Name: Cynthia BG, KY USDA Zone 6b Sanity = Dirt under your nails...
mandolls wrote:
It's Geof (G. wheelerii) in his natural habitat!!
I wish I had some of that shade, Geof! The sunflowers aren't able to shade everything like I'd like.
C DG
Benny101 Aug 4, 2016 3:46 PM PDT
Greenville MI - zone 5b
FLflowerboy wrote:Loving the pictures, Linda & Geof!! It makes me pine for your cooler climates!
The cool climate is wonderful until late October or so Jon , trust me the novelty of it wears off really fast around December
mandolls Aug 4, 2016 5:23 PM PDT
Name: Geof WI
I got a couple of nice shots of Abbey this evening after the much needed rain.
the price of doing business I guess 
. It was a smash at market last week! I think the first to go...
My first bloom on Heather, which is a new dahlia by one of our northwest dahlia folk (I don't remember which one). Very pretty but the stems are short so far.
