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 -- March Picker 
Gorgeous!
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Thank you, Audrey!
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That’s beautiful, what a variety and they’re all so perfect. It sure does make the approach of autumn somewhat bearable when it means that you get to see all these flowers opening… plus the work of planting and staking finally pays off 😉
I put stakes in next to the dahlias about a month ago but only yesterday gave in to the guilt and tied them up. They’re been blooming anyway and I really should give them more respect.
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Autumn is actually one of my favorite seasons! I have three other favorites. Hahaha! I confess that I don’t always tie the dahlias to stakes, even though I place all stakes at planting time. Sometimes the plants bush out nicely, not requiring additional support, sometimes a stake to lean against is all they need, and other times I notice a plant could benefit from being tied so I do it. It all works, Frank! Enjoy your blooms and thanks for viewing mine!
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My goodness! I am overwhelmed by all those gorgeous dahlias! Your photos really do them justice too March. Must be lovely to have so much colour late in the season. 🙂
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Cathy, I’m thoroughly enjoying them! Thanks for the visit.
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Beautiful dahlias! How do you keep the deer out? I saw a fence, it doesn’t look really high. I’m looking into deer fencing, but none of the tall fencing is very pretty 😦
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Hi! A couple of our acres are enclosed by a 6-ft fence and lots of greenery which deer have never jumped. The fence is mostly black chainlink with some wrought iron, and plants including various evergreen and deciduous trees, mock orange, vines, laurel, and forsythia camouflage it and weave through it. It works! A lower fence also surrounds the veggie garden, mainly to keep pets out. The low black iron fence in the last photo is just a long, decorative piece dividing flat lawn from a steep slope.
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I hope you will share your secrets. These dahlias look so healthy. Soil recipe? Secret mixture of plant food? Please share.
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Flower, you are kind! Yes, I add plenty of seasoned manure to all dahlia beds a few weeks before planting. A handful of bonemeal gets sprinkled into each hole at planting. We top the beds with compost, and that’s it. No fertilizing at all. 🙂
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Thanks for the tips. I will try this.
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Lovely collection
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