The last of the 2009 blooms

I took pity on the struggling plants that were left and cut the blooms. I don't expect the buds to open up any more, but I could be surprised, if we get an Indian Summer or something.. The Chrysler Imperial rose still has buds on it, but it will have to get covered, we have a frost warning for our area tonite (???). Dad's on a reunion trip with his buddies from WWII, and he babies that bush daily....
Just for fun, I stuck in a few pieces of my lavender and left in a couple rose leaves.... the kitchen smells wonderful!

So pretty. Did anyone ever figure out what your bicolored purple/whites are? Frost your way in September? Weird. It was cool here and the dahlias were very happy. I'm sure it will pass and you'll get warm again. One last dahlia hurrah!

What a lovely arrangement.

Wow, that looks professionally done!

Beautious kizmo! I got frosted last night so I am in mourning :( :( :( BUT I will organize my pics and start a pic thread so we can look at them again.

Thanks all, wish I could just wrap them up and send them to all of you, they smell really nice.... I hope these do well over the winter, got to get out my info I saved from this thread so I don't lose them. Dad ordered another batch of the Breck's dinnerplates, solid colors up to 12", we'll see.. I just have to figure out where I'm going to put them-you can only fit so many stamps in a postage size yard LOL

I guess you've ruled out the roof?

LOL, I have plenty of roof, although steep-pitched, I would have to rig up some sort of fantabulous automatic watering system, I'm not as graceful as I was years ago.....

You can borrow my peter pan harness that I use for Poochella's friend's dahlia greenhouse to fly through the air and water them! Weeee!!!!

Maybe Kizmo could get rid of that silly driveway. Should be great for dahlias!

YES Pirl! My riiiiiiiiip out the driveway project is fully planned ^_^ Unfortunately it looks like it will be defered a year for the practical replace the window project because there is an interesting wind that blows through the old big thing in the middle of the garden in the winter and there are so many grants and tax rebates now for energy efficiency it would be dumb not to take advantage of it DH thinks. Of course I think riiiiiiping out the windy part of the big thing in the middle of the garden would be the better solution. Really how much room do you need for a bed, shower, coffee machine and flat spaces for seed drying? I mean REALLY?

And look at the savings in fuel and electricity! He'd applaud your good thinking!

Which silly driveway are you referring to? If you're talking about the brick walkway that's probably 100 yrs old on the west side between the houses, that only gets maybe 2 hours of light during the best days of summer, plus it's an access through way for gas/electric/AC for both houses, so can't do that... Our concrete driveway services our house and the neighbors on the East side, and it has built in drains, so can't take that one. The back parking lot only fits 2 vehicles, my Jeep and Dad's van, otherwise we have to park on the street. And with Dad being 85 yrs. old, that's not a good idea. We live in the city, across from an elementary school and on the same street as the hospital route, very busy. Sometimes you have to really be careful just pulling out into the street.
Thought seriously of building raised beds around the perimeter of it, that's on the list for next year, if we can swing it... Otherwise, the only other thing left is my brick walkway, also very old, and its the only thing in the back of the house that gives character year round, besides the flowers. The back yard that's left is 6X20 strip east to west, and a 10X30 that includes my 4X8 raised veggie bed, a lilac bush I got for my birthday, and room for my green bean teepees. It only takes me about 20 minutes to mow and trim, so you can see it's not really very spacious. The front yard faces the street on the north side, so that's out, too.
The other thing we've found is the clay drain tiles that are buried under my flower beds. I have to be careful where I put posts and such when I stake my flowers. But I'll fit them in somewhere.. gotta remember.............. I'm a born and raised Indiana farm country girl - I gotta have some grass under my toes!!

Hold that thought forever Kizmo! All old brick walkways should never be mucked with because they are old and beautious IMPO. Sounds like you will just have to smooze the dahlias in where they can fit . I have found that dahlias cohabitate with veggies and herbs with great joy. Just a thought ^_^

glad someone else likes those old brickways...... I love the English Cottage look in gardens, and the bricks are my favorites. They need to be leveled out in places, but that's a job I do alittle at a time. My knees and back are not big fans of being bent over for that long. I redid a 3x3 section in our front brickway last summer, that had heaved over the winter. After digging it up, I found a post that had concrete around the bottom buried underneath. Evidently, there had been a center handrail in our wide steps at one time, or possibly the remains of a postlight.
Dad and I used a jackhammer to break up the concrete-about a 14" square and who knows how deep, I couldn't find the bottom of it- then cut the pipe, sealed it off and filled it back in with new builders sand and releveled the bricks. What a job! I had one of the local construction guys check it before we started, so I had an idea of what to do. Dad's back isn't really good for heavy work at his age and it was my first time on a jackhammer. We laughed about it though, and I did most of the lifting anyway. Hopefully, I won't find anything odd when I do the back and side walkways and it will just be due to ground shifting over the years.. (crossing my fingers)
I thought about planting cukes or zucchini around the bottoms of my dahlia posts, do you think that would work? Or are they not good companions?

Kizmo - actually I was just teasing and I've never seen your brick walk, though I'd love to see it. I was just trying to find some room for you aside from the roof. Sorry if I offended.

Last year I grew broccoli in front of dahlias and it worked very well. Cucumbers grow wild in our vegetable garden and just might take over the dahlias.

oh, no offense taken, pirl! I've posted pics of the brick walks before on different threads, just don't know who's read or seen those particular ones... I moved from the country to an apartment for 10 yrs, then to a 100 yr old home in the river valley, 4 blocks from the Ohio river. It's beautiful here, just way different in gardening, even if it's only 300 miles from back home!
I don't think anyone that lived here before really planted anything substantial, besides Dad's rose bush and a few tomatoes in the flower bed next to the house. Hubby's x didn't do anything outside besides mow the grass and walk the dog, so the dirt is hard, nutrient poor (probably) and being so tight, it's hard to decide what to do with it! I'd love to just bring in a dozer and tear it all up, bring in some good farm dirt and start over! LOL
I'm too used to just taking a shovel and digging up the ground, that this just racks my brain when I plant something normal like a geranium or marigolds and they don't grow well.... I bought 10 ivy geraniums this summer from a well-established nursery, planted in new soil, watered and fed, and they didn't grow worth a darn. Last year, I bought some from Lowes and some from IN on a trip back home and they bloomed their little hearts out, bushed out like crazy. The ones I bought this year were a favorite color from back home and I paid twice as much here. Won't do that again!
I figured something low growing to keep the dahlia roots cool and hold in a little moisture may help, but am not sure what to put with them, will have to do some companion research.. I'll look for my pics on the sidewalks and post them here so you can see what I'm up against!
Have a good weekend!
Kathy

Sounds like you'd really enjoy a few truckloads of good compost. We love our compost and so do the dahlias.

Last year I used Super Triple Phosphate for each dahlia hole but this year the store was out of it when I needed it so I picked some up last week for next year and almost fainted with the price. It's tripled in one year.

I should really check into a truckload of dirt/compost if I do all those raised beds, but in order to do those, the parking area is just covered with 2-3" rocks (really hard for me to walk on, kills my ankles on some days) and I would like to get it covered with smaller gravel or have it redone with concrete. So that would have to be done before the beds get put in, or they would be in the way, unless I just have a load of gravel hauled in. It would definitely be cheaper!
What does the phosphate do for the bulbs? I added bone meal and a bulb fertilizer when I planted mine, but only because I had it here already... should I be using phosphate?

Now, IF you have some loads of compost to get rid of, and need a road trip, I can send you directions..... LOL

It boosts bloom performance. It's 0-45-0 and the packaging states it promotes root growth and flowering. I believe it!

ok, Thanks!