The gardening season is definitely winding down in my central Ohio zone 6a garden, and the plants are looking tired. But there are a few blooms left. Take a look at what is blooming for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.
As with last month, the dahlias are the stars of my garden right now. This is my first year growing dahlias and though I only planted two varieties I'm officially addicted.
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| Otto's Thrill dinnerplate dahlia |
I've only had four blooms of Otto's Thrill, a dinnerplate dahlia variety, but they're absolutely gorgeous. I've read they're late bloomers, so perhaps it's just that or perhaps they need more sun than they're getting in this spot but I'm glad I got to see them. They also don't last long in a vase, but did I mention how pretty they are? They seem to be really getting into gear now and there are lots of blooms ready to burst but unfortunately I don't think they'll have time for more than perhaps one more blossom to fully open.
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| Sweet Love dahlia |
Sweet Love dahlia on the other hand has been blooming its head off since late July. I just love it and it has earned another year in my garden thanks to being such a prolific bloomer. Plus the blooms also have a great vase life.
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| Queen lime zinnia (left) with Cut and Come Again Zinnias (right) |
The zinnias are still blooming although they are definitely looking tired and at least half of them have powdery mildew. I'm not as in love with the zinnias I planted this year as I was last year so I'm going to change things up next season. There are so many zinnia varieties to try though so changing things up isn't a bad thing.
The White Swan coneflowers I grew from seed this year bloomed late in the season and should put on an even better show next year.
And I couldn't resist including the rare Donnie flower. He's a neighbor kitty who loves to visit and hang out with us whenever we're outside and has become my gardening buddy.
We're expecting frost and a freeze this week which will finally mark the end of this year's season, but this feels like bonus time anyway since I thought last weekend's frost be the end.
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| My end of season "frost is coming" bouquets are always some of the prettiest. |
