{"id":110919,"date":"2026-08-23T14:17:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T18:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=110919"},"modified":"2026-08-23T14:17:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T18:17:06","slug":"clippings-8-23-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=110919","title":{"rendered":"clippings 8\/23\/26"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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standing out among the crowd, dark-leaved Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I checked out the local dahlia grower’s fields yesterday, but it’s still very early for much of a show. In local gardens around town, dahlias left in the ground have been up and blooming for a couple months. The grower doesn’t risk leaving the tubers in the ground over winter, so late August\/September is when his fields start showing more than a smattering of blooms. But some varieties were well advanced in growth and bloom over others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The qualities I look for in a dahlia are rarely mentioned in catalogues. Size, color and shape of flower are included in print descriptions but not the overall habit of growth. Walking the fields really clarifies what makes a good garden dahlia from one grown for a vase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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long dark stems of ‘Phyllis Farmer’ made a strong impression as useful as a cut flower and in the garden. Graceful, lightweight habit of growth, without massive leaves or thick awkward stems. A waterlily type<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My feet and sandals were covered in raw sienna-colored dirt by the time I walked the extent of the fields without another soul in sight. Just me and the dahlias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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‘Pam Howden’ was another standout in the field for number of blooms, long stems, also a waterlily type<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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‘Pam Howden’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I grew ‘Verrone’s Obsidian’ a couple years ago with mediocre results and spindly flowers. Here’s how it looks grown well<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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very floriferous single, elegant in habit ‘Sunny Side Up.’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This morning the downpipes were gurgling from a heavy mist almost veering into a light rain. Probably nothing measurable though. A morning like this is why the boardwalk is much appreciated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rather than keep cosmos in pots like last summer, the seedlings were moved here. ‘Rubenza’ and ‘Apricotta’. No surprise, they make bigger, better plants in the ground<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Kniphofia northiae backed by Hedychium ‘Tara’. Tall grey shrub is corynabutilon with tiny mauve flowers in early summer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Parahebe perfoliata with fresh growth and flowers after mid-summer cutback. Grass is Calamagrostis brachytricha<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Have a great Sunday. AGO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I checked out the local dahlia grower’s fields yesterday, but it’s still very early for much of a show. In local gardens around town, dahlias left in the ground have been up and blooming for a couple months. The grower … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2281,2478,550,5119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-clippings","category-cut-flowers","category-journal","category-oregon-garden"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-sR1","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110919"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110943,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110919\/revisions\/110943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}