In A Vase On Monday – Dahlia
As the week begins I join Cathy with In A Vase On Monday, an opportunity to share an arrangement using materials collected from the garden.
I have chosen a simple arrangement featuring a pass-along dahlia that began blooming during the past week. The small flowers have a nodding form which make them difficult to position with much accuracy, but their bright color is joyous.
In A Vase On Monday – Dahlia
Materials
Dahlia spp.
Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba)
Porcelain Ikebana vase, Georgetown Pottery, Maine. Rectangle Blue Zen (6.75L x 3.75W x 2H inches)
Many thanks to Cathy for hosting each Monday and giving us a chance to express our flower arranging passion. Visit her at Rambling In The Garden to discover what she and others are placing In A Vase On Monday.
pbmGarden 
The Dahlia is a wonderful rich red, would be lovely for a Christmas decoration.
Thanks Christina–it is a bit Christmasy. Friends in yoga class this morning were complaining of Christmas decorations filling the stores even before Halloween.
Love the red. My dahlias are sleeping away in a paper bag awaiting next gardening season so it was nice to see yours looking so lovely. 🙂
Thanks Judy. I was beginning to think this dahlia would never bloom. It’s been tall and green all summer with lots of buds. Hope we don’t have any frosts any time soon so it can finally fulfill its promise.
Lovely Autumnal tones!
Thanks! So hard to believe autumn found us.
Lovely, rich color! I like the way the yellow in the aucuba picks up the eye of the dahlia.
Wondered if anyone would notice the relationship of the yellows. This aucuba foliage is actually from another vase several weeks ago. It’s been accommodating as a background to a host of other flowers and still looks good.
Yes, the contrast of the dahlias with the aucuba leaf works so well – lovely! Thanks for sharing
Thanks Cathy. I’ll have to find more ways to use aucuba. I like the texture and pattern.
After looking at everyone’s vases this fall, I am adding more Dahlias to my garden. (I am only growing one; my first!) The size or shape or color hardly matters as they all are striking. I like the fact that you showcased just one flower type and color of flower. Glad Matthew did not cause you severe damage. I am enjoying my first ever autumn crocus, so I definitely recommend them. Lots of fun.
I agree Linda. I’ve been wishing I’d grown other dahlias this year. This read one overwintered from last year and I’m counting on it to repeat that success.
The dahlias colour is really beautiful.
Thank you. I love red flowers.
Beautiful! I keep seeing lovely dahlias on other people’s blogs and am so envious as I just can’t grow them in our snail-rich garden! 😉 I also love that foliage, I have a very small Aucuba, but it is growing well, so maybe next year I will be able to cut a leaf or two as they are so lovely in arrangements. 🙂
Thanks Cathy. Gardeners have indeed had some beautiful dahlias this year. This is the only one that survived from last year. Not sure if I should invest in more next year but we’ll see. Aucuba is something I didn’t use to like as it’s rather commonly planted around here. But I’ve come to appreciate its foliage and reliability in flower arrangements and finally added a small one in 2015. So mine’s not very large either yet.
That’s a beautiful rich-red dahlia! The performance of my own Aucuba is still sadly disappointing but maybe it’ll respond favorably to rain this season (assuming we get any).
I cut even more dahlias today from this plant. It’s doing much better than last year. Kris, I wish I could have directed some rain your way during the hurricane. Strange how it all or none, feast or famine.
Hi Susie, the contrast between the deep red dahlia and the blue pot is wonderful. I’ve got an aucuba in my garden that’s grown from a cutting from my Grandfather’s garden. It’s such a happy reminder of him. x
So nice you have that special aucuba Karen. Seeing my passalongs reminds me of many people who’ve shared their love of gardening.
The velvety rich red on that dahlia is just sumptuous. Interesting to read above that you overwintered your dahlias this year. I am planning, just as an experiment, to keep mine in the ground this winter. Our frosts are fairly harmless as we’re near the sea, and the squirrels just dig the tubers up if they’re newly planted. Could be an expensive experiment but let’s see!
Hope your experiment works. I had other dahlias last year that did not survive this method but this particular one came back strong.
That is a lovely dahlia, Susie, I keep wanting one that is more that shape. It has a very Christmasy feel, and the Aucuba looks great with it, they do have an Ikebana vibe, with that vase.
Hope you find the dahlia you’re looking for Hannah. This is the only one of my dahlias that came back this year, and I’d like to add some other forms. There is an amazing variety of them.
Love the deep burgundy red of that dahlia.
This dahlia is doing much better in its second year. Hope it overwinters again successfully.
Oh my gosh, I must plant some Dahlias. This is gorgeous!
Dahlias bring such joy to the late season….love how you have showcased these.
Thanks Ricki. I hadn’t planned anything special this year to enjoy in autumn so really appreciate that the dahlia is thriving.
Vase envy – love the flowers too.
Thanks, I have enjoyed that vase immensely.