Thanks all! They haven't gotten as tall as I expected but I have lots of buds, so looking forward to the rest of the season!

I had a friend over last eve. Her little girl is has a flower stand that her Dad built for her and we cut a bunch of blooms to fill her stand. Her name is Cyndle. I gave her a bunch of dahlia bulbs this spring and they are starting to bloom but mine are a little earlier than hers. Picked about 4 big buckets of flowers for her and when we were done we looked back over the garden and you couldn't tell that we had picked any. Cyndle couldn't decide which one she liked best but she liked all the dinnerplates.

Irish Blackheart

Pipsqueak

Poppers

Poppet

Rock Star

Great blooms, Connie! I love IBH!

The start of the bloom season is upon us here ... finally! I have a few that are opening but it's a race against time to get a photo before the JB's find them. Some of these are nowhere near their potential size, but any photo right now is better than none. Some have beetle damage so please don't look too close. LOL

Firepot


Bonaventure


Fleurel


Kelvin Floodlight


Frostnip


Parkland Glory


Santa Claus


Orange Nugget


Red Pygmy

Great blooms, Connie and Dan.

My Irish Blackhart is more pink and white than what it should be. Maybe it will improve in time.

Dan - your Santa Claus is much more vibrant than mine. Love Bonaventure and Frostnip!

I love Firepot and mine is loaded with blooms this year. The white short dahlia I posted was mis-named. Not Bashful, but Cheribim. Damien took out one of the larger shorties by the deck with the garden hose unfortunately. I am assuming that the tuber will be toast by fall but am leaving it in the ground just in case it might be salvageable. A couple of new ones are ready to open up so I can snap their pictures.

Dan I love Frost Nip. I've not seen that before. I'm going to have to have one I'm sure. What grower did you get it from? Santa Claus is also on my "Gotta have it list". Yours is really nice. I have something very similar to Firepot. One of my grandsons got me an assortment called Hot and Spicy and one of them looks like yours.

Nice blooms Dan! I especially like Bonaventure.

Thanks all! I hope this is the start of better things. Lord knows it's been a battle so far.

I bought Frost Nip at a local garden center this past spring. I've seen it for sale from several suppliers. I bought one last year from Clack's Dahlia Patch. It didn't look exactly like this one.

I bought Santa Claus late this spring from Breck's. They had one of those late spring sales I can't resist. It was two for less than $5.00. When I opened the package, I said, "OMG!" Ugly, broken, dried up clumps. I planted them anyway and the one is now 4' tall. LOL With dahlias, you just never know what will grow.

mandolls said:There are a couple that I have already cut, without taking a picture, but this is what is blooming in the Dahlia patch right now (happy Summer Solstice!)

Its all small dahlias so far, but I have more smalls than I have ever had before.


Gala Star - Orchid

• Dahlia 'Gala Star'
• Uploaded by mandolls

Verrone's Morning Star- Orchette

• Dahlia 'Verrone's Morning Star'
• Uploaded by mandolls

do pollinators like those last ones?
Honka - Orchid

• Dahlia 'Honka'
• Uploaded by mandolls

Juul's Allstar- Orchid

• Dahlia 'Juul's Allstar'
• Uploaded by mandolls

Hollyhill Pixie - Mini Ball

Zippity Do Da - Pom

• Dahlia 'Zippity Do Da'
• Uploaded by mandolls

Irish Miss- Pom

How pretty. Don't think I have seen those before. Assume no name??

Skipley Bonanza is still my favorite bloom in my garden - this plant is over 6ft.

mandolls said:Skipley Bonanza is still my favorite bloom in my garden - this plant is over 6ft.

I can see why it is still your favorite. It is absolutely gorgeous! If you have some SB for sale next year, please remember me. Thanks.

That is a real beauty, Geof!

Oberon46 said:How pretty. Don't think I have seen those before. Assume no name??

Small Dahlia, containerized for the past 4-5 years.

I found more JBs in the garden today than I've seen all year. I'm afraid they may just be getting started. I'll probably have them around for another two or three weeks. They totally ruined my first Frost Nip bloom and a few others.

I also found a couple of these cucumber beetles on my dahlias. There is a striped and a spotted version. They produce a bacteria in their stomachs that causes bacteria wilt when they chew on plants. The wilt can then spread from plant to plant. These beetles and powdery mildew are the reasons I gave up growing cucumbers years ago. The plants always started off looking great and then the wilt set in and the vines dried up from the roots outward. I didn't know at the time what caused it so I gave up. I've been doing my best to hold off on spraying but I'm beginning to weaken.

You guys do seem to have the plagues (can't remember how many?) of Egypt. I would pave my yard if I had to contend with all you do. Scorched Earth. Glass parking lot. Rather than have all my hard work go to bugs.

Summer's End

Pink Petticoat

Snoho Sonia

Pink Gingham

Tanjoh

Tutti Frutti


Wannabe

We're supposed to be around 90 degrees again today so I gave the plants a good soaking this morning. There are more buds forming every day but these are the only new blooms. I love the pale yellow of Ivory Palaces, although it looks darker in this photo.

Labyrinth


Ivory Palaces


A not quite full Akita