Betty's Pics From My Garden

Betty and Jim stopped by before the frost.  Betty's gorgeous photos captured the dahlias before they shriveled.  The last picture is close-up of a giant red dahlia.  It was used as a desktop on her tablet and it's headed to my iPad!

'Immortality' still blooming.  Note the buds
in the background. 

A gathering of dahlias by the pond.

KODA!  World's Best Dog!

More Dahlias by the pond. 

If it's not named 'Van Gogh' it should be!

The Hard Freeze

It took only one night of 30 degree weather to bring the season to a screeching halt for iris and dahlia.  After a summer waiting for the moon flower to bloom, a week later... well you can see what Koda thought of that.

'Immortality' - expect resurrection in 2013

 

The black dahlia

The last of the bunch rescued by Kyle.

Returning to the Devastation

After a weekend in NYC at a Provincial Council meeting wrapped in Broadway, I am expecting the annual science of death.  Friday night was a killing frost in Mendon.  The garden will look like the Addams Family visited Tim Burton.

It was only one night and the week promises to be warm enough to work comfortably.  The dahlia tubers will be dug and put up in bags that allow for air circulation.  Jim is bringing onion bags and I have saved some mesh bulb bags.  I will also buy some knee-high "nylons" as these work well. The bags will be hung in a cool dry place. Because my house does not have an optimal location I'll be lucky if half of them make it till spring.

New Daylilies from Cobbs Hilll

Charlie Zettek dug me some great clumps this year!  Two are cultivars registered by Charlie in 2004.  'Clowning Around' is a jester ready for Mardi Gras.

Clowning Around (Zettek, 2004)

'Prince Dimitry' holds court with a royal purple towering over the serfs at 40".

Prince Dimitry (Zettek, 2004)

Among the others new to my garden are these beauties.

'Frosted Vanilla'  (Kamensky, 1988) 

'Brocaded Grown'  (Millikan-B., 1979)

'Hazel's Gift' (Valente, 1992)

'Hortensia' (Branch, 1964)

'Love Those Eyes' (Rasmussen, 1987)

'Golden Scroll' (Guidry, 1983) 

Dahlias Closing Out The Season

The foliage on most plants on the garden is looking ragged and the dahlias are very leggy and many are flopped over.  My fault.  I should have staked them more carefully.  Dahlia stems are hollow and very brittled. The position in which they grow is the position in which they stay!  Try to straighten them and you have just picked an entire plant of Dahlias.