Saturday, 7 September 2019
Cowlitz River Dahlias and Succulents
We drove down a long woodsy road, one lane with turn outs for oncoming cars…
…till we arrived at a field full of dahlias.
You could wander the field with a clipboard, writing down which dahlias you wanted to mail order. I could have but did not because I already have so many assorted ladies in waiting at home.
Allan’s photoMy photos:
The fluffy ones are amazing and have great colors, especially when they have speckles or are two toned…
…and picotee.
This one almost looks fasciated.
I love the spider dahlias.
The huge dinner plate style, though astonishing, are not my cup of tea.
My favourites are the ones with tidy spoon shaped leaves, especially the smaller pom pom ones (didn’t see many of those here).
Allan’s dahlia photos:
Apart from dahlias, we saw chickens…
and succulents and a few perennials (including Salvia ‘Amistad’, of which I bought two). I got me one of these:
Sempervivum ‘Oddity’ (Allan’s photo)
I had to get me one of the Albuca ‘Frizzle Sizzle’—new to me.
Albuca spiralis ‘Frizzle Sizzle’ (Allan’s photo)
Also had to try one of these (sorry, no photo was taken of the plant, yet).
For next year’s Bloomin’ Tour, I intend to be mentally prepared to order some dahlias, speckled, picotee, and spidery.
Tangly Cottage Gardening 
Such amazing colours: they almost have a neon glow.
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I liked the chickens and the truly odd plants!
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There are such a variety of colors and shapes. I’ve always liked the smaller ones, too. The pompoms are cute! The Albuca spiralis ‘Frizzle Sizzle’ is very interesting!
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Oh, I have an albuca. Borderline zone tender for me, but it would not survive the winter wet regardless. It is potted up, and just gets popped into my little unheated greenhouse in the winter. I think the leaves are by far the most attractive feature.
Lots of lovely dahlias here!
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Useful advice, thank you.
>
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The big red dahlia with your hand is where I shot the frog photo. The scoop I got was that this is the first time the dahlia grower got to show off cause the tour is usually earlier in the season. It was fun to walk through.
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Cool, I heard that same thing. Glad we got to see the dahlia garden in full bloom.
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I grew dicliptera for the first time this year, and the hummers adored it! It’s lovely soft leaves are a nice change, and the flower color can’t be beat. Put Fairly close to house, south facing, a bit protected from some of our rain up here the WA Skagit.
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Thank you. I hope it comes through winter ok here.
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I am sorry that to miss your posts. I am very behind schedule.
Dahlias seem to be popular in the Pacific Northwest, which seems odd to me. I think if I could grow peonies, I would be less interested in dahlias. Also, I would not expect them to be so happy there. They do very well in the warmth here.
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