Enchanting! Well worth the wait. Thanks for sharing the picture

Very nice! I'm glad to see you also have more buds waiting in the wings. Enjoy!

I love Dahlias! Great pic :)

Thank you for your kind responses.

I planted 3 more this Spring, but we had a record Spring with rain everyday for a long time so I think the non-established ones rotted. Good thing they are inexpensive!

You can't see, but there is a three tier tomato cage in there helping to hold it up. When I have several blooms at once, the weight can be very heavy. I pinched it back twice this year to encourage branching and was hoping for a slightly shorter plant. Doesn't seem to have made a difference!

That dahlia looks great, you're lucky to be able to overwinter them so well and have them come back like that!

Mine are just now starting to put on buds but they need digging here and I always end up planting later than I should, so they're always behind...

Those are really pretty Sunny! They also have such nice clean foliage. I have a few things looking a bit straggly right now.

I originally planted 4 dahlias 4 years ago and this is the last standing. I always wonder each Spring if it's going to come back, but it has been through some very cold winters! Katob, please share your pictures when they bloom!

They are jolly and exotic but I always feel a little sad when I see the first Dahlias. They were always the flowers which were brought into primary school for the teacher when we went back after the Summer holidays. Dahlias are a sign of the end of summer to me. ... just awaiting for the first frost to turn them to mush.

Think in the UK the extent of the summer holidays, for junior and high school students, is just August.

Here, it's July and August (apparently based on the agricultural past) so returning can be even more traumatic for students and teachers alike. But returning is often depicted as liberation for the parents.

Nice! I've never had much luck with dalias, but I try and try again LOL! This year I picked up a smaller variety and planted in a decorative pot and it's doing well, surprisingly. :0)

sunnyborders, what are those blue flowers on the ground? I love them.

Your Dahlia's are beautiful! Mine bloomed once earlier and is about to bloom again. It looks...scraggly. Hoping this second round looks more formal. Do you disbud them at all? I was told to, but I feel like it doesn't really matter in a home garden.

Lovely bloom and I see several more buds.

I don't disbub my dahlias though have been told that doing so allows the remaining flowers to get larger. This year some critter is nipping the flower off. I find the flower with barely any stem on the ground. Today I cut the recent bloom shortly after it opened and brought it inside.

Planted mine late as well so not many blooms yet. If I have lots of blooms and am expecting a frost I make bouquets to share with my neighbors. Had enough for eight bouquets last fall.

Trailing (annual) lobelia, Riviera Midnight Blue, Kittyjam.

Sold as compact, which it does seem to be and colour: vibrant, which I've certainly found it.

However, it's not continuing to stand up so well against the continuous heat here (even with the sprinkler system). The dahlias are doing better but the ageratum have been doing worse.

That is a lovely dahlia, but if you are nervous about your bordeline hardiness, why not divide and bring a piece in for the winter for insurance? It's not really that difficult.

Debra

Thanks! I might try taking out a piece this year as I will be taking out an elephant ear and an amaryllis anyway. I would love to bring that height into other parts of the garden as well. Replicate what works, right?

The smaller ones sound like a great solution to the August blahs. Right now I have some straggling reblooms, but would be nice to have some smaller plants going gangbusters!

A beautiful photo of a beautiful flower!

Adding- I don't disbud as a bit of reduction in size is fine. I did pinch back one it got about 5 sets of leaves which should have shortened it and encouraged branching/shorter stems. I'm not certain the pinching made much of a difference

Thought you might enjoy an update. Lots of blooms.