Croydon Masterpiece Finale

I went to look at my dahlia garden today-( I didn't go out at all yesterday b/c of drenching rain all day) and was shocked to see that 'Croydon Masterpiece' had produced a 10" bloom! It is supposed to be a 'B'. It's a full 4" thick, too- there goes my suposition that the cool weather makes for small blossoms. 'Strawberry Ice' had two whoppers as well. In fact, they're all blooming like crazy (with a few complete failures that won't bloom this year). This proves that lots of water= bigger blossoms; temps don't seem to be a factor (except when it comes to the blossom lasting longer- 80 degrees makes them go bust fast). I ADORE this dahlia! It did so well this year- and is still producing.

Very Beautiful and Big! I love the dahlias. I love BIG flowers.

I guess Croydon is supposed to be an "AA"- I just looked it up. I love the big ones, too. 'Strawberry Ice' was another AA that I had- I got it @ Home Depot- I can't recommend it enough if you see it for sale this spring. I got 3 plants out of the bagged clump, one was white (which was OK) and the all blossoms were enourmous and held well. They were so big that one of the plants keeled over pulling out 3 stakes in the process! I gotta plant deeper!!

All my dahlias got nipped Friday night. Funny- any foliage that was from the ground to about 12" was fine: everything above was withered. Many of my plants have "suckered" lately, and the suckers are close to the ground- they all have buds and are growing just fine. I stopped deadheading, pruning, restaking, etc. after I had what blooms I needed for my little flower show. I figure the tubers will be better if I let them run wild as long as they can.

OH BOY! Tuber-digging time is around the corner!! Yesterday, I bought myself a new, sturdy (re: wicked expensive) garden fork (I think they call them "manure rakes") @ the local farm co-op. I wonder how enthusiastic I'll be after lifting the 50th tuber...

I believe that I am about 3 weeks from digging. It hasn't frozen yet in my garden and the forcast is above 40 for the low.
I had a, yes, wicked expensive manure fork, It did good for 2 years then the welding broke. I have a nice heavy 4 tined heavy fork, hopefully it will do a good job. I have at least 100 to dig. I think I will be very sore.

Yikes, 100 is a lot to dig, clean, etc. Good luck with that job.

Thanks, It still hasn't frozen here. My daughter informed me that she is off work Friday. I am off also. Guess what we are doing. Yes, Cleaning HER yard and planting bulbs in HER yard. I guess my turn will come.

Spoken like a true Mom. My daughter sent me a note titled "Thursday!" It's my birthday and also Alaska Day so a holiday for many people. She invited me to breakfast, then Value Village for our usual scavenger hunt (she is eyeing a ceramic bedpan - go figure - apparently really pretty - Thursday is 50% off day). My garden is totally to bed now, thank heavens. It was in the low 30's with a bone piercing wind yesterday. Cleaned up the garage from the dahlia processing and all the garden cuttings I had spread out to dry so I could mulch them in my grinder (still clogged it up terribly). I put the dahlia tubers back further in the dark on the cool bottom shelf and my car is now safe and warm in the garage. Time to tear my garden pruners apart, clean up and bag for next year. I bought one of those manure strewers last year and it is plenty skookum. Works great for digging tubers. But you still have to go slow as you can break the tubers even if you don't pierce them.

Yikes! We had an earthquake here last night @ 7:15. Scared the bejesus out of me and Jax. Mary, you must get them a lot in AK. Ours was a 4.0 in Southern Maine, but it sounded like the roof of my house caved in. It's worrisome b/c I live on the side of a drumlin, which is just a huge pile of rocks. If we had a larger quake, I think the drumlin would collapse. I've always dreamed of a house on the ocean; I may get my wish.
Arlene, did you feel it? I know RI did.

We get a fair amount of mild shakers but not that many that really raise the hairs on the back of my neck. A 4.0 is nothing to sneeze at and if you are on rock it would be magnified I bet.

Hey, ocean front property is really valuable. lol

Funny quip, Mary!

Nope. We didn't feel a thing. A few years ago I was sitting here at the computer when my chair moved and I remember thinking: How is that possible when I'm not moving it? When the curtains moved I knew what it was.

We were in Fairbanks for the 1964 quake and that was 8 something as I recall centered down closer to Anchorage. We have gotten some 6's and 7's since being in Anchorage but they were brief and centered far enough away that I only mildly shrieked when the house shook and gave a big crack! I freely admit they terrify me. We live on the end of town where the houses slid into the inlet in '64. But far enough across the road that we are very safe from that. Talk about ocean front. And people are building there again. They think it can't happen again. Gorgeous multi-million dollar homes. oh well.

And here I am in my little modest ranch on the poor side of Northern Light Blvd but not likely to slide into the inlet.

There's a lot to be said for "safe and sound".

I remember TV coverage of the '64 quake- was that the one that sucked all the boats out to sea, then blasted them all back in a Tsunami??? I was 3 and living on the coast (Gloucester, MA, w/ lots of similar boats). I had nightmares for years!!!

In November of '64 we had a blackout but I don't recall any earthquake.

I remember the blackout well! For me, it was fun. We got to cook in the fireplace! We "camped out" in front of it, too. My poor Dad and brothers- they had to fetch the wood, keep the fire going, and run to the store for canned goods, but for a little kid it was an adventure!

Yup. That was the one. Several villages on the coast simply ceased to exist. Well, they moved further up the hills. Valdez was a mess. Thank heavens we had to oil refinery there at that time. It was like a big bath tub. The tsunami sucked out the water out of the harbor, then blew it all back in boats and all, right up the dock and hill.

I've had a nightmare where I was trapped against a cliff with a huge wave about to crash onto me recurring since that happened. PTSD! I must have been at an extremely impressionable age when I saw that footage on our old B&W TV (w/ rabbit ears). I guess I learned for the first time that the world is a scary place.

I have not doubt. We had the rabbit ears too. Only 2 hours of TV in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1958. My dreams always have elements of being lost, unable to find my way, or trying to cleanup a mess that only gets larger the harder I try. Go figure