September is most definitely dahlia month at Coppertop. It’s great fun to see my dahlia dreams come to life! A few of Coppertop’s 56 varieties began blooming over a month ago, some are just starting to flower, and others are still covered in buds.
First, a shot of the five dahlia cutting beds in the lower garden taken about a month ago as blooms were just starting to open. For the first time, the plants are so healthy and tall that we can view tops of blooms from the other side of the nearby marionberry trellis.
It’s amazingly helpful to have these beds on a drip watering system, saving me hours each week, and thanks go to Hubby for that.
I cut flowers every other day, sometimes every third day. At any given time I have 6-8 vases of dahlias in our home, and I try to give away two big bunches each week. Dahlias last a maximum of four days in vases before lower petals wilt, even with proper care such as arranging them in hot water. The tubers produce more flowers as the stems are cut, so there’s a purpose to regular harvesting besides bringing lots of beauty indoors.
I love capturing the beauty of the flowers at all times of day, from early morning light to dusk.
The new dahlia bed just outside the ground floor of our home isn’t as packed with blossoms as the cutting beds yet, but it has been beautiful to watch it unfold with a planned ombré mix of pink, blush, white, yellow, gold, bronze, copper, and orange flowers. Lots of Cafe au Lait tubers in this bed! As more open, I’ll eventually get a good shot of the span of the bed.
Gardens at Coppertop 
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