These are the flowers that my neighbor Claude gave me for helping out a bit in her potager (kitchen garden, though in Claude's case it is a big yard down the lane just outside the village). Belle, non? I have to try again to get dahlias to grow in my CA garden. They are such beautiful blooms to have at the end of the season when it seems all else has given up. I must have planted them four times already there along the driveway in Healdsburg, and they never come up. As Mauro would say, pequeños animales, meaning the gophers musta' got 'em. But then I'm mixing my cultural metaphors.
Nachty nacht!
N2
My mother grew dahlias with great affection and abandon. She had millions of them. She loved them more than me, so I've carried a grudge for many years.
ReplyDeleteI believe they do best with very rich soil, lots of water, and gopher protection, as they are a delicacy for the underground rodents.
wow. Methinks a poem is bubbling.
affection...protection will be interesting internal rhyme in your poem, LC. N2, it's beautiful. I loved photoing dahlias in Mendocino. Always thought they were too flashy before, but after seeing the hundreds of varieties there, I think they are just flashy ENOUGH! These more subtle ones are even more extraordinary!
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