One Last Look at our Demo Garden

Now that December is here these lovely flowers from our Demonstration Garden are a wonderful memory.  

The garden was a success this year with some fantastic blooms and some great times for those of us that had the pleasure of working there.

Utah weather is a surprise most of the time.  

This year was really a surprise because the temperatures dropped below freezing with no warning. 

That was a problem because we had not dug the tubers yet. 

 Mark, Steve and Dave cut down the plants and put the drip system away and then on November 17th Mark, Steve, Megan, Carrie and I dug the tubers.  Even though the weather had turned we still had a pleasant day with sunshine to get the job done.

The frost had gotten to some of the tubers but we are hopeful that many will still survive.

We are trying another method this year:  Instead of putting "all our eggs in one basket" we are hoping we will have more success by storing them in 3 different places.  Megan, Mark and Steve took the tubers after they were dug and washed to process and store.  

 We are hopeful that this will give us a better chance of having more viable tubers for our garden and tuber sale.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

See you next spring.

 Orange Seedling

Cheri, Ryan and Julie & Karen's Gardens

Karen's Garden or should I say my Garden;)

I am happy to report that my Burpee Heavy Duty tomato cages were a success!  They held a 7 foot Penhill Watermelon to a small Swan's Gold Medal perfectly through wind and rain.  The only small issue was that for the smaller plants they made it a little harder to disbud and cut the blooms.

 Lovely Lana remains one of my favorites.

 Mixing dahlias and roses makes me happy.

 Wanda's Aurora originally was planted in honor of my dear Aunt Wanda a few years back and continues to have a special place in my garden each year.

 I love Castle Drive.  I love it even more since one of my three plants produced the Best of Show flower.  

I wish I would have paid more attention that morning when I was cutting for the show so I would know just which plant it was;)

 These photos were taken in August.  By the time September came these were all much taller.  

They have full sun so I'm guessing that they were just showing off.

Penhill Watermelon literally stopped traffic this year. 

 It was near our street and had people stopping to take a look.

Cheri's Garden

(Look close....Cheri is in this photo;)

 Cheri is one of the hardest working people I know.  I met her when we were both active in the Salt Lake Master Gardener program. I had the pleasure of working on many projects with her and was thrilled when she joined the Utah Dahlia Society.  

She is always there when needed from working

 the demo garden to setting up our show. 

 Oh, and she also grows a fantastic garden!

 Cheri's award winning zinnias 

welcomed me to her front garden.

 The many varieties she chose to grow 

like this spot next to her roses.

 Thanks Cheri for the tour!

Ryan and Julie's Garden

 A drive to Logan to see their garden in person is something many of us want to do but I didn't make it again this year. 

  Ryan was kind enough to supply us with a glimpse into their garden.

 They recently moved into this wonderful, historical home.  They quickly established their dahlia gardens 

to satisfy their hobby and "budding" floral business.

Beautiful Julie lost in their beautiful dahlias.

Thanks for sharing Ryan and Julie!

My dahlias froze over a week ago but at last report Megan's were still going strong this late in the year

 (11-8-14).  

The last post of the year will be a report on the 

Demo Garden and digging the tubers.

Nick's Camera Photos

Just for fun....

Here are some of the photos from Nick's camera from our awards banquet:

Thanks for sharing Nick!

2015 AWARDS BANQUET

 The Utah Dahlia Society has a tradition of having an Awards Dinner each year. 

 This year it was held on October 15th.  

The awards are given to people that have had the honor of having their dahlias make it to the Head Table of our annual Dahlia Exhibition Show.

 Joe Morley BBQ catered.  It was delicious.

 Megan put together a tribute to the winners

 using Bill's photos

 Bill is always willing to help.

 Vanetta loves our dahlias almost as much as we do 

and we thank her for her support of the UDS.

 Tim is our newest member.  

He is a commercial cut flower grower and is hoping to learn something from us. 

 We think we will probably learn as much from him.

 Nick presents Megan her award for Best Arrangement.

 Sandy won for Best Novelty.

 Stephan makes Nick laugh as he receives his award for Best AA.

 Jan was thrilled to received her first Head Table award.

 Bill won three awards!

 We missed getting a photo of his award for 

Best Three Blooms but congratulate him on his successes.

 Bill's framed photograph of Mark's Ketchup and Mustard was much appreciated.

 Karen Crook receiving her award for Best BB and Best of Show, Castle Drive.

 Ryan and Julie Williams won 

the American Dahlia Society Award 

for their dedication to the Utah Dahlia Society.  

They are great supporters of the UDS by donating many tubers to our annual tuber sale, their helpfulness

 and the fact that they live in Logan, Utah and seldom miss a meeting.  They drive almost 2 hours to and from each event with their 3 darling girls.  

 We were happy they received this recognition.

Thanks to everyone that participated, to Megan and Mark for all they do and to Bill and Barbara for making the beautiful framed awards.

(BTW, we had two cameras at this event and most people were looking at the other camera;))

Look for more posts for this year.  

We still have two member gardens, and the big tuber dig.

*Side note:  This entry is dated October 23 and I am happy to report that we are still enjoying beautiful dahlias.  Frost is predicted for this weekend but we have all loved the extended season.

Stephan and Mark's Garden Tour

It is a great day when you are lucky enough to tour two gardens. 

 Stephan and Mark's gardens made it an especially great day on this September morning.

We started with Stephan's garden that is a treat for the eyes.  His front garden must be dangerous for the drivers passing by his home.  It would be tough to keep your eyes on the road with the bursts of color from a variety of beautiful plants. 

 Dahlias included of course;) 

 Stephan's garden is unusual in that it has a huge side yard.  He has done a fantastic job with his landscape design that takes you from one area to the next with interesting twists and turns.

 His dahlias are dispersed among the garden plants as well as an area designated to dahlias alone....for the most part.  There are a few amaranths and petunias tucked here and there to add a spark to this lovely garden.

 A creative fountain brings more interest 

to this corner spot.

 I was too far away to hear this conversation but I'm guessing it had something to do with 

a tuber swap next spring;)

---------------------------------------

Mark's love of dahlias got many of us in the 

Utah Dahlia Society started with our 

"addiction" to dahlias.

His garden is a testament to his dedication to this beautiful flower and to his expertise in growing most anything.

 In Mark's Garden you are greeted with some happy marigolds and one of his favorite dahlias, Miss Delilah.

 It is always fun to have a surprise bloom. 

 This Vassio Meggos had a mind of it's own and gives a little wink with the white pedals.

 Disbudding is a constant job for us all.

 Mark does a fabulous job with his.

 In our climate Lovely Lana is a very hard worker. 

 It is not uncommon to have many

 of her large blooms at once.

 Wanda's Aurora

 Mark also has an impressive vegetable garden.

 His compost bin reached 160 degrees 

on this September morning.

Thanks for the tour Stephan and Mark.  

What a pleasure!

Watch for the post of our Awards Banquet that will be held on October 15th.

Cheri's Garden Tour and my tomato cage report will follow.