I don't kno y my cell squishes the pics- u have to click on the pic for reg size it annoys me. MANY of these dahlias are still recovering from busted & broken limbs thanks to hurricane Irma.....

This poor thing finally was sprayed for bugs!

This one was marked wrong so I don't kno the name - I thought it looked like Vancouver or Akita ?

Very nice thanks for sharing ;-)

Wow!! Don’t cha love them?!? They all look amazing!! I have a bunch of new ones on order so hoping I get the area ready before next spring. Do you take any inside to enjoy? Judy

Thankyou cici for ur kind words! My gardens are always "test" gardens and every day is a learning process- i have SOO many ideas! I just wish we had the extra cash right now to pay for some one else (besides hubby- who has no clue!) to put up new posts & a brand new shade cloth bc the way he put this in is OH SO WRONG!! It's supposed to have 200lbs of test - it's sagging so bad the wooden dahlia stakes are ripping holes into the $360 shade cloth!!! we did buy 2 but the other shade cloth is only 35% & from this growing season - I can tell its not going to be enough shade! So there's a method to my madness not planting them closer to the porch. One is bc if planted any closer, they would be shaded from the porch roof & not get any sunlight from noon on or something like this. Second, I wanted a walkway to get behind them bc I didn't make a very big walkway thru the garden. Just a T walkway- which I haven't put the steps in yet. So I have loads of egg Rock. I'm going to turn over this area against the porch/house. I still have some plants to dig & pot up from here bc it used to be a flower garden. Once I turn over the weeds grass & dig up the left over seedlings I'm going to bury newspaper & a bunch of other good stuff to feed the worms here & enrich the soil more ( I've been working on it for a few years it went from dead sand to richer soil with earthworms! : ) I'm doing this in case I change my mind years later & decide to pull up the egg rock & re plant in this area. I'm going to lay down fabric/weed barrier & lay egg rock on top. I also have flag stone steps to make this area a walkway - I also have the edging from my old rose garden. I'm using this edging for around the dahlia garden and up to each side of the porch -it's hard to explain exactly how I'm doing this but I have it all laid out in my head & will post pics when I'm finished ! It's going to be nice -accept for the huge wooden posts holding up my sagging, torn shade cloth. -I wanted posts that were strong yet much thinner This is why I want to hire someone to fix what my hubby did. Im laying brown mulch for the dahlia bed & flag stone steps in a T shape for the walkway thru the bed. I'm so excited but I'm going to need mulch & more flagstone. I can only do so much at a time bc Its so costly! It cost us around $700 just for the dahlia bed not including the tubers :( I like to take out some of my dead yucky sand & add in lots of good soil & amendments. right now I'm actively working on 4 beds. One is small. It can be financially overwhelming. The last reason I can't plant closer to the porch is bc we have no gutters!! Ugh so during rainy season here (which is everyday during summer!!) there's a drip line or should I say " pour" line from the rain coming down off the house. This is my biggest problem. I have another bed I'm working on right now that's ab ready to plant in (after tiling in a little more amendments) and you can see the area where the rain pours down on my garden! I could use anyone's advice on what to do about this bc as of right now we can't afford to install gutters or a rain barrel system :( so this is a challenge bc I can't plant here or allow any plants to grow over in this area. We get gallons of rain in summer to the point it just about kills all my plants anyways. Any advice on this ? I'll post pics! Sorry for gabbing I'm excited

I apologize I didn't c ur question Judy - of course I do!! I'm going to be honest ab this ! Bc I read dahlias like to be cut - the more u cut the more they bloom - I used this as an excuse to completely hack a a good 1 1/2-2' off some of my fav varieties- took all the buds, blooms & the whole top half of the plant with it! I was worried, I went a little overboard out of excitement afterwards! They did grow back rather quickly however. Thank goodness!! I decided not to cut as much next time- :) I've learned quickly Some dahlias have longer stems and are much better for cutting than others. these varieties I like the most bc I enjoy cutting flowers for the vase! I have 20 vases & but new ones each year bc I'm always cutting flower bouquets for friends, family, teachers & neighbors to enjoy. This is what drives me the most to garden here in Florida. I get more joy from handing someone a vase full of flowers I grew in my back yard than anything else in my life ( besides my boys & my animals) it makes my heart smile! We always have fresh cut flowers in vases thruought the house. Even in winter bc our winters are so mild . I enjoy every minute of it .

Ryan c

Thomas Edison & Kidd climax

This is a vase full of flowers I just cut - I haven't arranged yet I was going to arrange them after I got to my Mawmaw's house (dahlias , Belinda's dream rose & Gerbera daisies ) species gomphrena (grows wild in our yard) - liatris- pervoskia & some roses - an old bouquet

Cecile Brunner & pink salvia and more dahlias ! These I just plopped in a jar & hadn't arranged them yet. I arranged 3 beautiful bouquets w/these flowers but I didn't take any pics :( :( I have 2 orchids growing in hangers in my baby oak tree :)

I have a cut flower obsession! I leave a few flowers for my garden but most blooms i cut to enjoy inside & share with others. It makes my heart smile ! My Mawmaw just had Emergency surgery. her colon ruptured & was riddled w/cancer. she had a colostomy bag put in & has a million other probs going on. I drove 2 hours to bring her the 2 biggest bouquets I've ever cut/ made in my life! I bought extra big vases for this- she could barely smile when I walked in bc she was so sick, in so much pain but I could see her eyes light up with joy. Flowers are food for the soul

Hi Rachel, Your dahlias look really good and you are on your way to being very successful with them as you grow in dahlia knowledge.

A couple of suggestions if you haven't already completed them are: 1st- Get that soil test to make sure the PH is 6.0-7.0 with the optimal around 6.2. Very important in getting those large blooms. 2nd-Don't use Black Kow or any other composted cow manure. Replace it and the peat with compost, lots of it, and mushroom compost or horse manure. Mushroom Compost has spent horse manure but still has enough strength for growing dahlias. Check the growing guide on our website www.georgiadahliasociety.com John