Better late than never

I haven't as yet heard any reports about our city's bowhunt. I only know that I would never participate in an area this populated. A lot of the so-called hunters are new at this and think this is going to be easy because of the dozens of deer they see around the city. A blind man could pass the proficiency test that is required. I could stand back and throw arrows close enough to pass. Many people rave about the merits of a crossbow. In my experience they are often (not always) used by "newbies" who want to shorten the learning curve and don't want to put in the many hours of practice to become proficient with one of the hand held, hand drawn, hand released vertical bows. These are the hunters I try to distance myself from. Anytime something is made "easier", it usually brings in other problems. I'd prefer they shut down the parks for a week or so and bring in police or national guardsmen to thin the herd. If our city had had the courage to address this issue sooner, we wouldn't have the insane mess we have now. I have never read a single encouraging report about the effectiveness of the birth-control pills.

Marie, I think it would depend on how low the temps drop and how deep the tubers are under ground. If it stayed in the high 20's I don't think I would worry too much about it. Anything lower and I might go ahead and dig. The frozen ground won't make the digging any easier without a little warm- up. I'd play it by ear. I have a good friend who lives close by and says he has never dug his dahlias. They still come back every year. They are planted between his brick home and a concrete sidewalk with a vent from a clothes dryer close by. Maybe the brick and concrete hold enough warmth but still hard to believe with some of the cold winters we sometimes have.

I wonder if that is why Earl and Ayers White Knight never quite bloom. They might even get buds, but they never open. by October we are well into freeze zone so if that is their natural bloom time, it's far too late. Same problem with chrysanthemums. Gorgeous bushes, loaded with buds, but no flowers. Guess I will have to find someone down south to send the tubers to (those who produce eyes and I have at least one.)

Dan - how do your friends know where daffodils now grow? I plant a few muscari with every group of daffodils to alert me there are bulbs there even though there's no foliage at this time of year. I have plenty of extra muscari if you want them.

Except for one bed, the daffs are dug after dying back each spring and replanted in the fall. I have to have the space for my dahlias ( I had over 60 this year ) ,so the daffs get temporarily evicted. Thanks for the offer of the muscari but I'm just about out of room. A neighbor offered me some Lily of the Valley but I didn't have anywhere to put it. I appreciate the offer, Arlene.

Dan, is that 60 different kinds, or 60 all together.

Mostly different kinds. I have 3 Ferncliff Inspirations, 3 Duets, 2 Bonaventures and 2 Hollyhill 6-in-1. I think the rest are singles. I sent some tubers to an uncle last spring. He gave a few to his sister and now they are both gung-ho. Dahlias have a way of "captivating the soul".lol They are now competing with each other. He is a big outdoorsman, but when we talk on the phone he talks mostly about the dahlias. He has sent me 3 picture cd's already this year. I think he is officially hooked.

Now I remember you said you dig the daff's to make room for the dahlias. Sorry I'm so blonde today!

I just counted and, much to my shock and surprise, I have 31 dahlias. Good thing they can have their own garden next year and they'll love it!

Now I can order some of my old favorites, sweet relief and joy.

I was thinking about planting my duplicates (or more) all together, well, not in the same hole, but in close proximity (maybe 12-15" apart instead of 24-30" apart), to simulate one very large bush. Mostly to try to maximize the space that I have. Especially for dahlias that have lovely blooms but are not particularly prolific with their blooms. I am also considering not planting my late blooming dahlias as I am pretty sure they just won't bloom. I will give particular attention to where they are planted and fertilizing next year as a test. If no blooms, then bye bye. Clearview Orca is a very tall plant with huge flowers. I could almost make a hedge out of them.

Hurricane Sandy is angry and she hates dahlias. Forecast is calling for rain and high winds for the next 5-6 days. I had a lot of flowers broken over today so I hurried and snapped a few photos. I have a few more starting to open but I think the end is upon us. 1.) Light Accord. I love the pale yellow color.
2.) Mingus Wesley
3.) Worton Blue Streak is lavender.
4.) B.J.'s Gabe
5.) I think this is Island Flare. I planted this one as a replacement for a tuber that rotted and forgot to write down what it was.
Hopefully the storm will pass without too much more damage.

Your dahlias are wonderful, as always, Dan. I love that very pale yellow one as well. A few years ago I lost Citron du Cap and I actually miss it. The color was very similar to Light Accord.

The storm is heading our way and the constant warnings on radio are endless. Tomorrow I'll go out cutting and trying to tie up all dahlias that haven't been tied well enough - still, I expect damaged stems.

Yesterday Star's Favorite finally opened. I planted it in a pot in May! To me it looks more like Pink Bad Hair Day.

I hope all who are in the path of the storm will remain safe, sound, unharmed and that we don't lose power.

Love the first photo here! http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardens/RHS-Recommended-Gardens/Features/Top-five-dahlias-to-try

What a gorgeous dahlia! http://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1080&bih=548&q=dahlia+trelyn+seren&oq=dahlia+trely&gs_l=img.1.0.0i24.2625.6328.0.9234.12.11.0.1.1.0.125.1033.8j3.11.0...0.0...1ac.1.I-0fC5vnFMw

Thanks Arlene. I like those "bad hair" dahlias. Except for the yellow center, it looks sort of like Park Princess. I love Rokewood Opal and started to order it last spring but didn't really need any more and hated to pay the shipping charges for only one tuber. Maybe this year. The one thread you posted showed Trelyn Rhiannon. One of my favorites from last year. I was sick when both tubers rotted this spring.

As always the dahlias are wonderful. Arlene, the first thing that came to my mind when I looked at the pink dahlia was 'Madusa' the mythical lady with the snake hair.

My dahlia's are almost all brown from frost. I haven't tagged them yet, I better hurry although I know what everything is in the ground. I just have to tag them before digging.

Good luck with the weather. We had strong winds and snow. One friend lost her very large shade tree. It didn't hit any structures which was a blessing. We got over 1.5" of moisture.

thanks for the URL's Arlene. What gorgeous flowers and gardens. Will have to look some of them up to see if they are available here in the US.

Well so much for those dahlias. I found Cafe Au Lait at Eden Brothers which is not one of my favorite vendors. But none of the others.

I found that site while looking for ideas for a dahlia garden. How I wish that first pink/yellow one was available here.

Now it's time for me to go out to save dahlia flowers and plant astilbes knowing the 5" of rain will water them in well.

All the astilbe got planted, lilies got cut back as well as giant crocosmia, tiny clover has been pulled and I did cut dahlias and snapdragons. The storm should hit here tomorrow and be at its worst tomorrow night. There is currently flooding 40 miles away, near Fire Island, and the rain hadn't even begun so it looks like homes there will be destroyed as is common both there and along the water's edge in Southampton but the people rebuild.

You aren't saying YOU will flood I assume?

Not unless the bay rises up 17', Mary!

LOL. Good to hear. I was going to send an inflatable raft for you and your husband and plants.

Thanks for thinking of us. I've already got the batteries charged so I can take photos if the water rises that high. We'll be up in the attic with the dog.

Let's hope not....tsunami's can do interesting things with water. lol

A tsunami! That would mean all new gardens!

It's been raining here for the past three days and very windy. The neighbor's big oak trees lost 90% of their leaves in a matter of days. The forecast is calling for winds up to 70 mph tonight. The power went out for a few seconds but came right back on. Maybe a different story tonight. Stay safe, Arlene.

I hope pirl's still with us! Maybe she has waterfront property by now. I assume her power is out.
I hope all of you in the path of the storm make it through. We in N/E Mass. got off easy. 1.5" of rain, and the power was out for a few hours. Right now it's worse; we're getting severe thunderstorms and more rain now than the past few days.
I hope the tubers don't rot!!!!

I hope Pirl is okay also. Here on Long Island we were hit very hard with the storm. Many large trees and power lines fell down and and some hit houses. We were lucky and without power for only two days, but telephone and internet service just restored. Most houses are still without power and many near the water have flooding. Stay safe Arlene!

I hope that her damage was minimal and that we hear from her soon. Still a lot of outages in that area.

My gosh. Those pictures are amazing. I mean, you hear about the damage but to see damage like that right on a street that could be your own ... scary. Arlene lives on Long Island doesn't she? Southhold, on the northern tip of a peninsula that is part of another peninsula. Right across the street from houses sitting on a bay I believe.

Yes, Arlene lives on Long Island about 45 minutes east of where I live. I know that there has been a lot of damage to houses near the water but hopefully the reason why she hasn't posted is because her internet service is down. I hope she is okay and didn't get any damage to her house. Looking forward to a post from her soon :)

Waiting........Hope all is well as can be for Arlene. Prayers are for her and all who were / are affected by the storm.

What a mess!!! My heart goes out to you all that were in the path. It makes me nervous b/c we are next; our hides escaped the last few hurricanes, but we're going to get clobbered soon.
I AM SO FED UP with all the destruction and the #$@&* political ads, emails and phone calls- hopefully it will all be over soon.

Alive and well! We were not swept out to sea and didn't get a drop of water in the house. The water did come up on the neighbors' homes who live on the water (almost IN the water!) but we were safe. Now I'm writing from the library but hopefully my new laptop will be ready for me tomorrow.

Right now storm Athena is raging outside but we'll have the worst of it while we sleep tonight.

Arlene, I am happy to hear that you are safe and no damage to your home! Now we have the Athena storm and don't ever remember snow at the beginning of November. Mother Nature please calm down!!!

Athena? They named the snow storm?

Glad you are safe, Arlene!

Arlene, I'm really glad to see you made it through the storm o.k. I googled "Southold, New York" this past weekend to see what you might be going through. A lot of outages in the area. Anyway, glad to see you're back.

Thanks, Carol, Melissa and Dan. Yes, now they are naming winter storms and, believe it or not, Brutus is on the way but it's supposed to stay west of us. After that I assume we'll see Cleopatra so can Marc Antony be far behind?

More trees down with Athena, more rain, wet and sloppy snow...

I remain at the library until I can get along with the new laptop.

We had our first frost Tuesday night and what damage the hurricane type winds didn't do a week ago, the frost did. The stalks are turning black and look so pathetic. What a difference a day makes. But it's November. I had a few new blooms before the high winds came, but the frost killed three more that had just started to open. 1.) Bold Accents 2.) Hayley Jane. This one surprised me since I thought both tubers rotted. 3.) Hollyhill Chrystal. 4.) B. J's Gabe. 5.) Skipley Gloria. This is supposed to be a "B" size bloom, but probably due to the cold weather this one is about 3 1/2".

Beautiful, Dan. Love how #1 and #2 echo each other with the colors.

Last night was our first frost just as Star's Favorite gave me two more blooms yesterday (in the snow). The nameless neon yellow was the last good bloom I got and stood out so beautifully though this horrific time. My intention was to send it to the dump but now my heart won't let me do it.