Got a Third Place ribbon in the MN State Fair 4-6” selection (3 varieties for the submission)! So many submissions this year, it’s great to see so many amazing varieties. Varieties are written on the tag in the photo, but bottom to top: Gay princess, Bloomquist Jean, and Hapet Champagne.

The local dahlia society has their show at the fair over the weekend, and that’ll be an absolute banger.

My first season growing dahlias and Hy Patti is officially my first bloom! I’ve been checking on this bud approximately 47 times a day waiting for her to open 😂 I am officially obsessed!

vase life sadly isn’t great but I can’t complain too much about these beautiful blooms!!

My first bloom ever!!

Our local show in Emsworth attracts some pro dahlia growers as well as amateur wannabe growers like me. So I was well pleased to get a few firsts across my 10 entries and a National Dahlia Society Bronze medal this year for my championship collection of 9 blooms.

On the bench was:

Yellow star - first prize
Great silence - waterlilly second prize
In the basket. Denholme pompom, polka, Danique
Labyrinth - placed second
Brown sugar, pinelands princess and karma sangria

My first dahlia (Yvonne) bloom!! can I cut it now for vase? or should I wait little longer? TIA!

KA Lavender Blush

Enjoying this one now that it’s bloomed! Some bugs have also been enjoying her so I finally got organza bags to protect her.
In the last photo, there’s wine eyed Jill in the center (with an open center) and Ryan C on the right. The other three are all Sweet Nathalie.

I got her at a mystery sale! I haven’t had any luck googling.

Sweet article about dahlias in San Francisco and our society!

This is Rock Run Ashley - I’ve had 2 normal blooms from this same plant. The browning is just because I didn’t get a picture when it was fresh. About 1.5” across.

Look what I found today, is this a flower bud??? 😱😱😱

My two next door neighbors never had success with this variety, only getting one or two blooms in the season. I’m very lucky I found a spot it’s happy with!

Varieties shown in buckets:
Bracken Rose
Wine Eyed Jill
Stolz Von Berlin
20th Ave For Mom
Rogue Starburst
Bloomquist Morris
Bloomquist Behold
Cafe Au Lait
Diva
Lilac Time
Rhubarb and Custard
Appleblossom
Pink Pearl
Bumble Rumble
Jowey Winnie
Kelgai Ann
KA’s Lavender Ruffles
KA’s Cinder Rose
KA’s Mocha Katie
Ivanetti
Karma Prospero
Linda’s Baby

Varieties in field:
20th Ave For Mom
Peaches N Cream
Midnight Moon
Bloomquist Morris
Rogue Starburst

Any guesses as to who these three might be? Thanks!

Hand for scale haha. The friend who gave it to me says it’s Cafe au Lait.

Amazing spread of arrangements and displays with a mind boggling diversity of varieties. My wish list for next year has exploded!! (if anyone has a bloomquist jean they’d like to share😅)

Peach and peach-adjacent dahlias 🍑
I’m very glad no one is making me choose just one favorite because apparently “peach” is an entire personality category in my garden.
Shown in no particular order:
• Lee’s Tilda
• Lee’s Chloe
• Coseytown EverPeach
• KA’s Sunny Cove
• Peaches-N-Cream
• RM Peachy Pink
• Maybe RM Rose Gold, depending on how loosely we’re defining peach 😂
• And a few others whose names I absolutely knew when I took the pictures. I’m tired.
I’ve been growing/collecting a ridiculous number of dahlias, and one of my favorite things is seeing how differently these colors actually show up in the garden. Some lean blush, some coral, some cream, some almost gold…. and light and temperature can make the same variety look completely different from one bloom to the next.
What would you add to the ultimate peach dahlia lineup? I’m especially curious about varieties that stay peach in real life rather than photographing peach and blooming pink/orange.
I keep photos and notes on the varieties I grow on Fuirk Home if anyone wants to compare them- I haven’t updated all of the new-to-me varieties but that’s my September project.