Utah Dahlia Society

Sunday, October 12, 2014

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.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Carrie's Secret Garden

Megan and I had the privilege of visiting our recent UDS member, Carrie's garden. Carrie is a professional landscape designer and did she ever pull out all the stops on her own piece of heaven. She proves that you do not have to have an acre of land to design a beautiful and inviting garden.

When I walked through her arched gate to enter her garden it literally took my breath away.

Carrie, on the right after working in the demo garden with Cheri.

She has crafted an eclectic collection of beautiful plants that is punctuated with dahlias.

Mon Ami, Carrie's gorgeous companion was watching the tour and looking regal even though I caught her mid-blink.

Carrie built all the raised beds herself.

There is no shortage of color here.

A giant hibiscus presides over the garden in her backyard oasis.

Thanks for the tour Carrie!

Your garden reminded me of a

"Secret Garden"

although I'm afraid the secret is out now;)

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

2014 EXHIBITION SHOW

Megan said it all when she wrote:

Hard to believe that our Dahlia Show has come and gone already. What a fantastic array of gorgeous dahlias filled the garden center this weekend. Thanks to all who came, entered and judged. It was a wonderful event surrounded by an amazing variety of forms and colors.

In other show news we have our photo winners for the calendar contest: Congratulations to Bill Hughes, Ryan & Julie Williams, Jan Litster, Karen Crook, Mark Hurst and Megan Badger.

We also are proud to announce the winner of this year's People's Choice Award.... Larry Stevens won by popular vote for his beautiful entry of Bodacious.

Congratulations Larry for bringing such a spectacular bloom.

In other show-related news, we are sad to say goodbye to Nick Spencer as our Show Chairman. Since the very start of our group, Nick has been in charge of the show. As they say... "all good things must come to an end" and Nick is ready for a change. We wish him well. His wealth of 'Dahlia' knowledge, his attention to detail and his kindness to all; made Nick a perfect show chairman. So thank you, thank you, thank you Nick for all you have done for the Utah Dahlia Society.

The show winners were:

BEST OF SHOW AND BEST BB

CASTLE DRIVE

KAREN CROOK

BEST AA

AC BEN

STEPHAN LECHEMINANT

BEST BALL

HY SUNTAN

JAN LITSTER

BEST THREE BLOOMS

EMBRACE

BILL AND BARBARA HUGHES

BEST B
CAMANO SITKA
BILL AND BARBARA HUGHES

BEST A

DORIS B

MEGAN BADGER

BEST EXOTIC

MIDNIGHT STAR

SANDY BURGESS

BEST M

WESTON SPANISH DANCER

BILL AND BARBARA HUGHES

BEST ARRANGEMENT

MEGAN BADGER

Megan with her winner "Doris B"

Bill Hughes with his three entries on the Head Table

Mark Hurst, Megan Badger, Nick Spencer and Karen Crook

Head Table Winners

What a show!

Karen Crook with her Castle Drive - Best BB and Best of Show Winner

Our 2014 Show

Many thanks to our President, Mark Hurst for leading the way, to Megan Badger for all that she does, Nick Spencer for his work as Show Chairman, Judges: Becky Swalberg, Stephan LeCheminant, Ryan Williams and Bill Hughes who had an incredibly hard job. Thanks to the clerks Sandy Burgess and Cheri Schultzky. Also thanks to Cheri for helping to cut flowers, make arrangements, and set up the show with myself and Megan.
A big Thank You to Spence and Emily Mortensen for donating all the dahlias for our arrangements that help to fund our show.
Thanks to Megan for much of the text on this post and to Bill Hughes for many of the photos.
Last but not least, thank you to everyone that brought entries. We wouldn't have a show without you.

If you are interested in getting a list of all the ribbon winners please get in touch with me and I will get you a hard copy or send the PDF file that Nick was so great to provide.

Watch for Posts of our
Member Garden Tours
coming in October.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Bill's Photography

I am in the process of getting the information together to post about our recent show.

In the meantime, I could not wait to share these fabulous photos that Bill Hughes took at the show and was kind enough to share with us.

Many of these blooms were blue ribbon winners and even made it to the Head Table.

Thank you Bill!

Bill's arrangement of Embrace

Bill's Camano Sitka

Megan's Doris B

Megan's Arrangement

Steve's AC Ben

Mark's Ketchup and Mustard

Karen's Zoey Rey

Bill's Weston Spanish Dancer

Karen's Castle Drive

Monday, September 1, 2014

AUGUST MEETING AND UPCOMING SHOW

Megan's E-mail:

It is prime time for those of us who love dahlias. The Demo garden is on the verge of major blooming, those who attended our summer party at Spence's, saw some spectacular dahlias... thank you Spence for a wonderful evening... and we are just a few weeks away from our annual Dahlia Show. It will be held September 13th & 14th at the Garden Center at Sugarhouse Park. Entries can be brought Friday September 11th between 6 & 8 p.m. or Saturday morning between 8 and 10 a.m..

Important show news:

We will not be using the green plastic show vases we have used for the past few years. At our get-together last week, we discussed other options and by majority vote, we decided to go back to using clear vases. This is what we did for our first few shows. Any clear glass vase is acceptable and are available at the DI and other thrift stores. Everyone who enters any blooms is responsible for providing their own vases. If you don't have any vases, let me know and this year we will have some extra at the Garden Center if you don't bring your dahlias ready-to-show.

Many thanks to Spence and Emily for hosting our August Meeting. A little rain did not hinder us from having a wonderful time and enjoying their lovely gardens and delicious food.