Dahlias

In late May, I bought a few bags of dahlia tubers from some half-price bins at Home Depot, because the season for planting them had already passed. And then I forgot about them. By late July, the tubers were a little soft and dried out, so I plopped them into the ground as an emergency measure. I didn't think they'd bloom, but I wanted to give them "soil-time" to rejuvenate so that I could plant them for flowers next year.

Imagine our surprise with these beauties (photo taken a couple of weeks ago). I don't recall seeing dahlias as huge (5-6 feet tall) or as productive as these before: they started blooming in early September, and even today (Halloween) we have over a dozen blossoms (and as many buds yet to flower).

Below them are a run of marigolds which were also very happy by the end of summer; on the left is yet another dahlia-emergency planting -- another gorgeous bloom, but overshadowed by their huge brighter cousins alongside.