Earlier this spring I went out on a whim and ordered some dahlia seeds. The thing about dahlias is that they don't grow true from seed, which means that when you plant a dahlia seed you don't know what you are going to get. That's why people buy dahlia tubers, because then you do know what you are getting.
However, the adorer of all things random and whimsical part of me loved the idea of starting some dahlia seeds and seeing what happened.
Well, stuff happened.
For one, I got some blooms that look a bit alien-like. They are yellow and pink tinged and their spiky appearance reminds me of something that would be growing on the exotic terrain of some fantasy novel setting or sci-fi world.
I am not sad about this.
I also really, really enjoy double blooms on a dahlia, and the seeds that I got claimed to be from such a type of flower, so I was really hoping that I got at least a couple double bloomed plants too.
I did. They are glorious!
Especially this magenta with peach striped beauty!
The bees agree with me, this dahlia is beyond lovely!
I also got a double bloomed yellow dahlia, but I neglected to get a picture of it in its full glory, and there are some pretty huge light pink blooms in my front flower bed that I am totally digging. They remind me of pink lemonade.
Once the first killing frost arrives, I shall be busy digging the tubers, labeling them, and storing them in the barn larder room. It'll be really exciting next spring when I plant the tubers and wait for what I know will bloom late in the next summer season.
Because there is something truly magical about dahlias...
The dahlias aren't the only color around here, the fall squash brigade has made a vibrant appearance also.
I took the wheelbarrow over to the garden yesterday to cut down all the corn stalks to take to the barn for crafting purposes. That said, I couldn't help myself and took a bunch of them along with a giant pumpkin, and one gorgeous little Rouge Vif d'etamps. And one Japanese hull less pumpkin, because I love the stripes! All of those glorious signs of fall got a new home right by my front door, because festive reasons.
Plus, who doesn't smile when they see a pumpkin? Okay, maybe some people don't, but I sure do, especially when they are parked next to my front door.
Double plus, the presence of the pumpkins at my door will remind me that I need to get all my homestead before winter chores buttoned up and get to baking comestibles with all that pumpkin goodness.
Because my dear friends, baking season is upon us, and I am most definitely not sad about that! There shall be recipe posts for days!
Dahlias and desserts has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?