It’s been a spectacularly beautiful and productive week, despite a couple days of hazy weather due to wildfires to our north and south. I’m joining again with other garden bloggers to present six things from our patch of land. Thanks go to The Propagator in the UK who hosts this weekly event.
I’m absurdly fond of dahlias and grow as many as I possibly can handle digging, sorting, storing, dividing, and replanting. The Pacific Northwest has the perfect climate for dahlias, and the plants gift us with a vast variety of blooms from the end of July to first frost, usually mid-November. I have a preference for solid color, informal varieties, but dabble in dinnerplate, cactus, ball, and anemone style dahlias and lovely mixed hues. Over the past few years I’ve collected close to 150 tubers and given away dozens, but as I’ve mentioned before, to keep things in check I only grow as many varieties as my current age. The only negatives I can possibly note about dahlias are 1. Their lack of fragrance and 2. Their relatively short vase life (4-5 days max). Here are some early blooms from my garden, and for some unknown reason I refer to them in the female gender. 🙂
ONE – All That Jazz lights up a room with her vibrant splashes of orange and magenta. I’ve brought her indoors to appreciate her up close, and have paired her with Cafe au Lait dahlias in a new (old) Lenox vase for fun.
TWO – Southern Belle is one of the most symmetrical dahlias I grow and could almost be considered in the waterlily class of dahlias. She is pretty in pink and very, very prolific as the season progresses.
THREE – Sonic Bloom has been one of my favorites for a few years because of her crazy floppiness and diverse colors which shift as the light changes. She usually resides in a gifted Heath bud vase in my bedroom where she mimics my early morning “bedhead”.
FOUR – Swan’s Gold Medal has a simple, pristine beauty and plays well with others.
FIVE – Oregon Reign produces blooms faithfully month after month. She’s large, as shown outside the basket at 4:00 in the photo and also brought indoors and mixed with friends.
SIX – Tsuki Yori No Shisha is sometimes called Tsuku Yori No Shisha, but whatever you call her, she’s pretty awesome. Her name means “messenger from the moon.” It’s her first year here at Coppertop, adding some zaniness to my whites, and she’s a keeper.
Gardens at Coppertop 
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