Love, Joy and Peas: red dahlia

Showing posts with label red dahlia. Show all posts

Friday, October 14, 2016

Delightful Dahlias in Early Autumn

Happy floral Friday and welcome to this bonus edition of "this week in my Maryland garden!" Often by this time of year all of my dahlias have been killed by frost but this year they're still blooming and I thought that was worth celebrating with a blog post.

I'm not sure of the actual name of this cute red and white bicolor dahlia but I think of it as my peppermint twist.

This pretty yellow and white bicolor dahlia isn't perfectly formed but it is still beautiful.

This burgundy dahlia plant has been producing beautiful flowers steadily since early spring.

I believe this is a Mr. Optimist bicolor dahlia. It started out with yellow tipped red petals and then faded to this pretty sunset color scheme. I think I cut it over a week ago and it's been in a vase by my computer ever since. The yellow came out more as the red faded.

I feel blessed to have dahlias still blooming in mid-October here in Maryland. It is delightful.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you!

Related posts:
Summer dahlia: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2016/09/bright-summer-flowers-dahlia-tithonia.html
Sunset dahlia: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2016/06/bee-balm-sedum-sunset-dahlia-coreopsis.html
Raindrops on dahlia: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2016/09/big-fat-raindrops-on-beautiful-flowers.html

Friday, February 12, 2016

Blue Ribbon Winning Flowers

Happy Floral Friday! I found this post in my draft folder (it was supposed to have automatically posted in 2014 but obviously something went wrong) and figured today was as good day to share it. I hope these blue ribbon winning flowers brighten your day!

"I'm blessed by my county fair awarding at least 12 of my flowers blue ribbons this year! The red dahlia above is one of my actual flowers entered in the fair, photographed two days after the judging occurred. In the interest of sharing good photos of pretty flowers the rest of the photos below are representative of what I entered but not the actual blooms entered.

If you've been following my blog you know I love dahlias. The dahlias received the most blue ribbons (they have different categories for different size and color dahlias). I have only been growing them for a few years but I get a lot of joy from their vigorous flower output and variety of blooms.

The tithonia I grew from seed also won a blue ribbon. The bees, butterflies and moths love them.

This is actually a Mr. Lincoln rose, which I didn't enter as it wasn't opened yet at fair entry time but the pink hybrid tea rose I did enter won a blue ribbon. You can see a similar rose at the bottom of this post (it's the last photo).

The white cosmos I entered looked better than this one currently blooming in my garden but this is currently the only bloom on the plant.

What a fun blessing to have my Maryland garden recognized in such a way. If you're local the fair runs through Sunday and in addition to the flowers there are a lot of neat exhibits (bee keeping displays, chain saw carving, photography, 4H, animals, crafts, herbs, an 88 pound watermelon and more). May God bless all the fair volunteers and may He bless you too!

What is your favorite part of a county or state fair? Do you have a favorite fair memory to share? I'd love to hear it!"

Related posts:
Flowers, freeloaders and funkiness: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/flowers-freeloaders-and-funkiness-for.html
Raindrop flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/raindrop-drenched-rose-cosmos.html
Vibrant spring flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/dahlias-ranunculus-azaleas-lilacs-and.html
2013 County Fair results: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/09/county-fair-photos-haikus-and-results.html

Friday, August 28, 2015

Dahlia, Marigolds, Zinnia, Butterfly Bush and Friend

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" It's been really hot but the flowers are still going strong, and I'm thankful.

I love these bicolor French marigolds that I grew from seed. They are getting so large I might have to stake some of them.

I've already had to stake a bunch of the giant zinnias (also grown from seed) and some of the plants are so tall they reach my shoulders. In the photo above you can see a giant bright pink zinnia just opening up and, in the background, a light pink that is fully open. I often see golden finches, butterflies, moths and bees enjoying the giant zinnias.

This is another potted butterfly bush (I featured a white one last week). I love the bright orange centers and the lilac colored petals. We do plan to put them in the ground once things start cooling down so they have time to establish deeper roots before winter.

Some of the African marigolds (also grown from seed) have grown nearly as tall as the giant zinnias. It's really exciting to see so many pretty flowers on plants I grew from seed. I love all flowers but the ones grown from seed are extra special.

Thank you for joining me on this week's mini garden tour! May God bless you!

Which photo(s) did you like best from today's post? Someone mentioned that she'd like to see the results posted and I thought it was a great idea. So I'm going to start listing the vote totals in the comments of the floral Friday posts and will count votes shared here, in Facebook and other forums. I'll aim to give the vote totals for the previous week on the same day I do the new week's post (for example, today I'll post the vote totals for last week's post in that post's comment section) so that gives you about a week to vote. I'd love to hear from you anytime though! Feel free to share!

Related posts:
Raindrops on flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/10/raindrops-on-roses-azalea-camellia.html
Marigolds and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/06/shasta-daisies-coreopsis-sweet-peas.html
Mystery flowers and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/06/sunflower-day-lilies-vinca-and-mystery.html

Friday, July 3, 2015

Giant Zinnias, Gladiola, Mr. Optimist Dahlia and Day Lilies

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" I finally have a true red giant zinnia! A few weeks ago I shared the giant orange one that came from the "red" seed packet but I hadn't had a red one bloom until now. It was worth the wait because I love it! The flower is about the size of my palm (about 4" in diameter).

Our gladiolas have started blooming. I think this was the very first one to pop. I wasn't sure if they'd come back after last year's harsh winter so they're a pleasant surprise (we have two of these).

This white zinnia also came from the same "Giant Red Zinnia" seed packet that produced the red and orange ones (and, not yet shared on this blog, but pink, peach, mauve and purple zinnias too). While all the others are producing large flowers the white plant is producing smaller flowers, about 1-2" in diameter. But it's producing more of them, and they're pretty so I don't mind.

Our Mr. Optimist dahlias have started blooming too. They don't look like the photo on the tuber package (it had more of a bright fushia main color) but they are gorgeous. Even nicer in person.

In addition to the El Dorado and double orange day lilies these lovely yellow and cream day lilies have started blooming. Our day lily bed is exploding with color and I love it.

That's all for this week. I hope my flower photos made you smile! Happy 4th of July to all celebrating! May God bless America and may He bless you too!

Related posts:
El Dorado day lily: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/06/sunflower-day-lilies-vinca-and-mystery.html
Orange giant zinnia: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/06/coreopsis-zinnia-hydrangea-dahlia-and.html
Day lilies and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/06/day-lilies-carnations-pansies-primrose.html

Friday, October 17, 2014

Raindrop Drenched Dahlia, Chrysanthemum and Rose Photos

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" Our daisy-like chrysanthemums started blooming this week.

I believe this is one of our "senior prom" roses and one of the first ones we planted in Maryland.

The dahlias are the real powerhouse of our flower garden right now, still putting out daily flowers.

Even the little dahlias are still producing beautiful flowers and the bees are enjoying them.

Here's another look at the chrysanthemums featured in the first photo of this post. I love how raindrops are caught between the petals of the just-opening chrysanthemum bud.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you this autumn and always!

Related posts:
Late spring raindrop flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/raindrop-drenched-rose-cosmos.html
Early spring raindrop flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/10/raindrops-on-roses-azalea-camellia.html
Late summer raindrop flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/sparkling-chrysanthemums-dahlias-zinnia.html
Raindrop foliage: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/04/happy-earth-day-leaf-and-randrop-photos.html