Category Archives: summer bulbs

Dahlias

Dahlias are the one flower I always cut… that and gladiolus, but the glads were planted late, so who knows if they’ll ever bloom!?growing dahliasThe “Plum Pretty” are my favorites, I like the curly cactus petals and the dark color.  The creamy “moonlight” bloom nonstop and the violet “Ooh La La” are nice enough (ok so they’re not my favorite).  The peachy-yellow are an older one from one of those Sam’s club mixes.  The more you cut, the more blooms will come up, so there’s sure to be another post or two of gratuitous dahlia color!

I made a trip down to Chanticleer this week.  It was beautiful and you can bet there will be MANY pictures posted.  Here’s a taste.  I was pleased to see this color combination, it’s similar to my salvia-verbena combo (that some people didn’t like) and I feel vindicated to see it used elsewhere… with a lot more green, I think the green calms it nicely.chanticleer I saw so many cool ideas and plants, it will be a long post or two… or three 🙂

 

Dahlias!

I’m a sucker for a nice dahlia.  There are a few I overwinter each year, but one cold night last winter I broke down and committed to some new ones.  Here are the first of them, cut and artfully (hah!) arranged on the kitchen table.

growing dahlias

The three peachy ones towards the front have been with me for years, but the others are all new.  I got my new ones from Swan Island Dahlias, but you can do the same (maybe cheaper) at any box store or general bulb seller in the spring.  Mine all appear to be exactly as labeled, cheaper sources are sometimes hit or miss….. but if you just want a couple beautiful flowers, is a name that important?  They also look great in the garden.  Here’s “Moonstruck” which is the best bloomer so far.growing dahlias

“Plum Pretty” is already a new favorite.  I love the pointy petals of the cactus type, and these have a lighter bottom that shows when the petals curl.growing dahlias

“Pink Petticoat” is a little girly for me in both name and color but if pushed I’ll admit I like the two toned color and the smooth wide petals.  It also has outer petals that curl back around to the stem, and I think this is important for show quality blooms, but mine rarely go further than the kitchen!growing dahlias

Ok.  So I really like Pink Petticoat too.

I find dahlias easy to grow.  Most of mine are in the vegetable garden since it’s easier to plant and dig there, and I don’t do anything special as far as care.  A full sun spot, a little compost when planting, a bit of miracle grow if they look pale, and a stake to keep them upright, and you should be good to go.  That reminds me, mine are still unstaked…  another do as I say, not as I do moment 🙂

Viva la Tropicalismo!

“Tropicalismo” is so very ’90s but being in style was never my strong point. I still love the tropical look with big leaves and bright colors and lush happy growth right during the months when everything else looks a little tired and faded. Too big elephant ears, too bright cannas and just a little too tall grasses always make me smile when the bleeding hearts are dying in the heat. I even like the bright red salvia that is normally reserved for gas stations and trailer parks. Feel free to judge me, here’s a picture of the tropical bed last year.
tropicalismo planting
This was a new area that was the perfect match of big space, full sun, and no planting budget, so I pulled together the leftover canna roots, popped in a couple sweet potato cuttings, and scattered some annual seedlings and with plenty of water and fertilizer it all came together.
As usual this year I’ve fallen behind, and the tropical bed is still a weed infested patch of leftover perennials, a few nice salvias, and an appropriately bright knockout rose.
tropicalismo planting
I finally got around to weeding, mulching, and planting. It may seem like all is lost with such a late planting date, but the experience of a chronic procrastinator has taught me things will still work out fine. Also the late planting allowed several self sown red salvias and amaranth to make themselves known. All good things since I used up all the spare annuals when I expanded the front yard border.
So here it sits, still a little sparse, but ready to take on all the drought and heat summer throws its way.
tropicalismo planting
With any luck I’ll still have the same tastelessly colorful display as last year, minus a few of the exceptionally colorful and tacky tropicana cannas.
tropicalismo planting

Canna Virus

The bed expansion is coming along….. not as fast as it should but it’s progressing.  The plan is to go all along the front street border, widen the bed, thin a couple things out, weed, replant, and then mulch.  Each year I like to clear out a couple spots for cannas and other annuals, and since it’s almost July I better get a move on it before it’s too late.

Cannas are usually easy to grow, but in the past decade canna virus has become a serious problem due to the appearance of yellow streak virus.  CaYSV is the fancy name and it does exactly what it sounds like it does.  On a normally healthy green leaf it produces streaks of yellow.  Here’s a canna I was looking forward to adding to the garden, instead it will end up in the trash due to virus.canna virus

I got the canna in a trade and it was supposed to be a nice healthy banana canna and reach up to 12 feet tall… but it’s not to be.  I’ll get over it, but it seems like the plant you can’t have is the one you want most.

The yellow streak virus weakens the leaves and results in brown dead streaks.  Most of the cannas I see for sale have the virus, and Tropicana is one of the worst with green streaks showing up instead of yellow.  It’s a shame but hopefully with tissue culture and more effort in raising healthy plants we can get some healthy cannas back.