Six on Saturday: Dahlia love arrives

Alright technically I’ve already got one dahlia blooming but that was only a little dahlietta. This week has marked the start of the full-size dahlias blooming. This is my first year trying dahlias and they’ve been a pleasure to grow. One bag of Bishop’s Children has given me a mass number of plants for myself and plenty I’ve passed on to visitors. The week has seen boiling sun and heavy rain downpours. This has led to lots of plants shooting up and lots of flowers to choose from this week.

1. Lythrum-robin

The Lythrum was bought for me by my mum a few years back. It grows about half a metre has spires of small purple flowers and keeps going for a good period. The hoverflies have been swarming all over it the last week. It would benefit from another couple around it. It doesn’t seem to self-seed or grow to a point of division so I may have to try cuttings if I want some more. I have seen it for sale but I don’t think it’s worth a tenner.

2. Hollyhocks

This was one of the first plants I grew from seed in the garden hoping to attract bees. The current ones are children of the original that have self-seeded. They suffer from rust but they are still flowering well so can stay for now as they are still drawing in lots of bees. I’ve currently got the standard pink in flower and a darker rich red. They grew to massive heights last year with the extreme heat and look set to repeat that performance this year.

3. Pink rose

This came with the garden. It needed a hard prune the first year I move in as was sprawling badly. It’s now crowded in by lychnis which has meant it has grown lots of straight stalks up to the light with tons of flowers in. It has reliably repeat flowered. Some years it has managed up to four bursts of flowers. Not as showy as some of the other roses but the repeat flowering has meant it’s been allowed to stay. It suffered from the heat this week and has needed lots of water to stop it looking shrivelled.

4. Pot display

This combination of plants has filled out its pot nicely. The hosta lakeside is doing alright, though I may cut its flowers now. The fern is Athyrium nipoonicum var. pictum metallic. It is small in comparison to my other fern choices and has a bright red stem.

5. Pop-up tent

Alice has a new pop-up tent filling the lawn. Pops up easily. Doesn’t pop down and go back in the bag so quickly. But nevermind, she’s enjoying going back and forth through the tunnel and getting her outside in a bit of shade.

6. Dahlia-Table dancer

And now the week’s main event. It has a floozy of a name and it is as showy as the name suggests. It’s a cactus variety spreading out to about 15cm flowers. It should continue to flower for a good few months. I’ve started on a weekly feed of tomato feed to encourage flowering.

A good start to my dahlia venture. It has survived the attention of the slugs and snails to flower. Hopefully have lots more to follow. We’re set to visit the in-laws so will be enjoying their lovely garden. We haven’t been in a while so be nice to see them and see the garden in Summer. Enjoy your weekends.

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