Dahlia 'Brookside Cheri'
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I have to admit that I've never been really keen on Dahlias, even if I sometimes admire them in other people's gardens. I've thought that their stems and leaves resemble too much potatoes and other nightshades, and that their often giant flowers, too heavy to carry their own weight, are a bit too over-bred and elaborate to be truly beautiful...
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Dahlia 'Fire Magic' and 'Mingus Toni'.
Maybe as a person, I've just never been flamboyant enough to grow the large ones with their cactus-like blooms, nor sufficiently preppy for the small pompon-flowering ones. But it is difficult to ignore a flower that the late Christopher Lloyd, legendary plantsman and gardener, once mentioned as one of the eight (!) plants he would not want to live without on a desert island (in case you are curious, the other seven plants are Verbena bonariensis, Canna 'Wyoming', Hydrangea aspera Villosa group, Melianthus major, Aucuba crotonifolia, Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' and Crocus speciosus, of which I would probably choose at least the Melianthus, Hydrangea and Anemone...).
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Dahlia 'Odyssey"
*So I've been approaching them tentatively, observing them from all angles, occasionally stepping back a little, and then looking again. And I have a feeling that if I give them a bit more time, I just might have to try a couple of them, in case I manage to decide which ones to choose from the hundreds of different cultivars...
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My oldest daughter, Astrid, didn't have any difficulties in choosing her favorites amongst the hundreds of cultivars blooming in the Volunteer Park Dahlia garden in Seattle two days ago, where I took all photos above.
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6 comments:
Jag måste tillstå, att jag var väldigt nyfiken på Chrisopher Lloyds andra oumbärliga växter. Några kände jag till, men andra får jag nog googla på! Tycker att det är lite kul med dessa listor, och kanske hittar man något som man inte visste att man inte kunde undvara. ;-)
Jag kan tipsa dig om en dahlia som du absolut inte kan motstå; Dahlia coccinea palmeri, säger du nja till den, är du ovanligt ståndaktig!!! ;-) Nu hoppas jag att mitt enda exemplar hinner producera fröer i år för jag vill ha fler av denna goding! Men, jag sparar rotknölen så klart!
Tack för dina tidigare väldigt intressanta och fina inlägg!! Det måste absolut bli en resa till Åbo nästa sommar.
Ha det gott!
/Ruben
So you're back in the US. It's hard not to like some of the relaxed old ones like Bishop of Landaff. Blends well with other perennials.
Hej Ruben, vad kul om du ska till Åbo! Det är en härlig liten stad, med många fina, gamla och historiska ställen att besöka. Jag kollade upp din Dahlia, och visst ser det ut som en som skulle trivas i min trädgård. Älskar de enkla blommorna och kombinationen med det mörka bladverket! Ha en härlig helg!
James, yes, back now in the US, and the girls are back to school... Trying to get my life organized again. And do you know what, the Bishop of Llandaff I got from Marian last winter (and planted in November!) is now in full bloom. So I do actually have a Dahlia already in my garden here in Seattle!
Hej igen!
Har du Bishop of Llandaff så har du ju nästan Coccinea palmeri, de är väldigt lika!!! Vilken tur du har!!! ;-)
/Ruben
That Odyssey one is wild! I've grown Dahlia's, and will again. I have been on a bit of a dahlia break the last year or so. They are such high maintenance drama queens ;)
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