I went to the dahlia show last Sunday and toured the gardens of a local seed company on Wednesday. Now it is 11:15 Saturday night and I have spent the last 28 hours grooming Philip. What does that mean for you?
It mean a mess of flower photos and not a whole lot of words. It will all culminate with - a beautiful photo of Philip and 3 flowers that I bought from the dahlia show at the end.
How does a dahlia show work, you ask?
The dahlia show is actually a dahlia competition, but anyone from the public can go and see all of the varieties close up, in their most absolute perfect state. The flowers are set up on Friday night, judged on Saturday morning, and then the public freaks out over them until the show ends Sunday afternoon.
When the show ends at 3:00 Sunday afternoon all the blooms, EVERY SINGLE FLOWER, from the entire show gets auctioned off. You could walk away with armloads of championship dahlias for $15. $6 by the end of the auction.
I bought the piece de resistance of the show; the super big win-it-all grand champion. I'm not sure of that exactly, but it had an extra big ribbon.
The Hamilton Dahlia show also includes a floral arrangement competition with a few different categories and directives.
My favourite from the show is the one below.
I wasn't kidding when I said there weren't going to be a lot of words in this post.
Current time: 11:37.
The other flower place I went this week was my local seed supply company, William Dam Seeds. I went for lettuce seed and left with more than lettuce seed.
Before driving home I took a walk around their trial gardens; a place where new and old varieties are tested out.
This is the place where I buy a lot of the seed I grow. Having this beds open to the public to see all the varieties for sale in the store lets you see exactly what something looks like.
Then you just have to remember to write down what you like so when you come out of gardening hibernation in February - you know what you want to buy.
Like this new zinnia variety which has a big puffy centre. It looks like a designer marigold. It goes by the catchy name of 240SN876 or something like that but if it does well and gets named an All American Selection then it will be named and for sale next year.
I found another flower I'd like to grow next year.
This is Neo Green celosia with a HUGE lime green bloom. (the trick to huge blooms on cockscomb (hee) celosia like this is to not pinch them back)
It made me want to quadruple the amount of annuals I have in my 7 year old English Cottage Garden.
Am I right?
Current time, 11:52. Eep. O.K. just the photo of Philip and the booms I bought and then I can hit publish and go eat a bowl of cereal, and then add some more milk, then more cereal and on and on until I have none of either left.
Have a good remainder of your weekend! Now that Philip is bathed, blow dried and clipped, today (Sunday) I can pressing and can plum tomatoes.
My regrets for such dull writing, probably complete with grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors. Hopefully Philip and flowers balanced the scale a bit.
I've never been to a flower show. Way cool! Definitely, I will be looking for one now that I know people actually go to them. I assumed they were like a 4H exhibit where the only folks that went were the peeps showing their stuff.
I have a chocolate standard poodle granddog so I always love to see your Philip to see how he and Archie compare. Philip is a beautiful boy!
I haven't grown dahlias previously. Am I the only person who thinks some zinnias look like dahlias? I'm loading up on zinnias for next year's garden (dead heading and also buying some of the queen lime varieties) and I'm definitely going to add some dahlias!
Thank you for sharing these wonderful posts with us!
more random than random? Just wondering about the Finish on that lovely wood chest beside Phillip in the last photo. What is the finish? Do you wax? (not as rude as it might sound people) - and if so - perhaps do a post on waxing furniture? Perhaps even, dare I say, Re-finishing? as in the process Before - with something looking a little or a lot weary and dispirited - and how to get it Back up to snuff? Thought you Might know something about this, so....asking.
The flowers were magnificent! My favorite part of gardening:-) :-) and Philip looks so stately and manly! LOL Thank you so much for this wonderful post!
1. I'm so impressed by Phillip's ability to pose so majestically.
2. I love the dahlias and arrangements!
3. Celosias are about the only flower the stupid javalenas don't eat in our garden at our cabin. I might have to try this new one. Love the color!
Yes, the colour is remarkable! And all the blooms looked really good, not just one or two. ~ karen!
Phillips dalias are HUGE! I didn't mean for that to sound bad - sorry. It's going to be another beautiful summer in your garden next year!
Before removal they were also huge. ;) ~ karen!
Your the best morning treat!
Love the balance of Phillip and the dahlias, both fluffy wonders. It was always “to the groomers” with our poodles so your skill is magnificent. The new “fluffy centre” dahlia looks like a winner. And you live near William Dam! Jealous!
I always call it “brain” celosia so good to be reminded of its proper name. Now to remember that when ordering! Doh!
Have a relaxing Sunday. All our gardens are winding down, hot weather or not. Must be the angle of the sun (or the cool nights.)
Yes, the sun is much less intense - everything almost stops this time of year. Zucchini that would grow in a day take 2 weeks. And yes, I live about 10 minutes from William Dam. :) ~ karen!
Love the Dahlia photos! Phillip looks so handsome!
Thanks so much for giving us a glimpse of the Dahlia show....makes me want to see it in person! And after seeing Phillip in all his glory, and imagining the time and skill it takes to groom him, I won't complain about trying to keep our happy mixed-breed dog burr-free! Appreciate your consistent, creative content!
Thanks Heather! And that photo is actually from a couple of days before I groomed him! Burrs are the bane of our existence. ~ karen!
Thank you. And that was actually pre-grooming! ~ karen
Just looking at these arrangements is wonderful. While I am no artist, I do quilt and my favorite part is seeking the fabrics that go together to make the look I'm seeking. Seems like arranging flowers is a similar thing - they both need balance and some form of continuity. That purple/lavender one is stunning! I truly think that dahlias are the most beautiful flowers and the color and varieties are seemingly endless. P.S. Phillip looks so regal all trimmed and fluffed.
Very similar, yes! ~ karen
Hi Chris. Fellow quilter here. You're so right about selecting fabrics for a new quilt. One of my favorite things to do. (:-)
I actually did find 1 grammatical error that really stood out. A this instead of these in this particular paragraph....
"This is the place where I buy a lot of the seed I grow. Having this beds open to the public to see all the varieties for sale in the store lets you see exactly what something looks like."
But I only pointed it out since you made mention of grammatical errors, LOL
I am growing a yellow green celosia this year that is putting bees to sleep. It is so odd, because I have tons of other celosia, many volunteers from previous years. But none this exact color and none that the bees go to sleep on. I can literally walk up and bump bee butts and they wiggle, sometimes then fly away. But leave them alone and they stay put for hours. Many are bumblebees, a few are honey bees and probably at least one other bee type as well...
I am not all that sure that bees staying asleep on my celosia is a good thing. Not sure I want that variety to grow again....anyone with actual knowledge of this phenomenon, feel free to speak up
I forgot I could add an image
I'm very surprised there's only one! ~ karen
Love the pics. But after your busy day, but did you remember the lettuce.lol
I did! ~karen
Dahlias and zinnias and dogs. My favorite living things :)
Mine too! Karen, did you say the name of the seed-growing place?
Nevermind. Now I see the seed place is William Dam.
Love the photos and the dahlias! Your entry was magnificent and naturally Phillip looks very grand. I bet you need a bath and blow out after grooming him, too.
I’m extremely fortunate to live only 7 miles away from Swan Island Dahlias- who’ve been in the family owned business for 95 years and are the largest dahlia growers (40 acres) in the US. The gardens are open now and free to visit, if anyone is interested. They can be found at dahlias dot com. I have no affiliation, just love the flowers and even grow a few of theirs myself.
It is grand that you took the opportunity to immerse yourself in your natural habitat - growing things. Good Onya kiddo.
I smelled none of the flowers so I still have some learning to do.~ karen!