On my recent visit to Erin, The Impatient Gardener, I admired her 'Cafe au Lait' Dahlia. That's my hand stroking it below. For the first time ever, I planted a Dahlia this year. When I say "a Dahlia" I do mean only one. And it's in a pot, not the ground. I generally don't overwinter plants let alone tubers, so buying even one Dahlia is a big deal for me. But Dahlias are so beautiful and none more so than 'Cafe au Lait.'
I was excited to get home from our vacation to see a big fat bud on my Dahlia that was about to open. I picked up the pot with its massive plant to move it into a little more light. That's when I heard that big bud connect with the tree branches overhead. Yup, I snapped the bud right off with my carelessness.
But the next buds started opening quickly — into a soft peach Dahlia edged in yellow. Clearly there was a mix up in labeling/shipping my Dahlia. I should be mad since there's usually nothing more frustrating than waiting for a longed-for flower to bloom only to discover you don't have what you've been waiting for after all.
But given that one of my flower beds is filled with yellow Lilium leichtlini and the bed opposite has a swath of orange Lilium henryi, this mistaken Dahlia is the perfect color to tie my two borders together. I will be writing a thank-you note instead of an angry letter to the purveyor where I bought my Dahlia. And I'll also be asking him exactly what Dahlia am I growing?
Thursday night around 10 p.m. after the big storm had mostly ended, Mark took the lantern out to check for damage. The big pot holding the Dahlia in the upper garden managed to stay upright despite the wind and rain. The stems topped by big blooms unfortunately had bent and broken, so he came back into the house clutching two rain-soaked flowers.
I knew this silver vase was in the hall closet, so I grabbed a flashlight to locate it in the darkness as the power was still out. Plunked the Dahlias into it and there they remain. I don't think I would have cut them for indoors as they looked so well near the yellow and orange lilies. But now that they are in the house we've been moving the vase from room to room enjoying the Dahlias wherever we go.
To see what other gardeners have put in a vase this Monday visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this meme.
