dahlia ‘Great Silence’ | Mom in the Garden

Hi there! Welcome to my blog. I’m happy to say that the weather has been favorable! We welcome September in with high hopes of a beautiful autumn. The flowers in the garden might be what I’d describe as summer flowers, but they continue to look beautiful as we start the fall season. Of course, weeding takes place all year round and has been keeping me busy! It is one job that I never seem to get completely finished. 🙃

I made another flower arrangement this week (of course!). This time I added coral and pink roses to the dahlias. I was quite happy with it.

I’m adding in a non-gardening photo this week, too. I’m away in Waterford with our local cycling club (Cuchulainn Cycling Club) and I had such a brilliant ride yesterday that I had to share. It was along the Copper Coast and it was quite challenging for me. But boy was the hard work worth it for those views! Ireland is truly a beautiful country.

I’m joining Garden Ruminations for our Six on Saturday meme. It’s fun to see what’s growing around the world!

Enjoy the tour.

In Peace,
Dana

collection of sunflowers (Claret being the biggest)

1 – Collection of sunflowers. They are still looking good! It’s definitely worth planting different varieties, and lots of them, to keep the supply going. While I love the traditional yellow and brown, the dark colors of the Claret are a nice contrast.

2 – Collection of David Austin roses: from top right: Boscobel, Emily Bronte and Eustacia Vye. I had to wait a while for this second flush of roses, but it’s now lovely to see roses again. The blackspot does not seem to be quite as bad as it usually is at this stage, which is great to see.

View of the cutting garden with dahlias, gladiolus, and sunflowers

3 – The cutting garden. This has dahlias, gladioli, and sunflowers. I love having the flowers all together here. It’s a fun collection of shapes, textures and colors and it makes me smile every time I see it. 🙂

A pink and coral flower arrangement with dahlias, roses, gladiolus and verbena.

4 & 5 – A coral and pink arrangement. I challenged myself to use the Boscobel and Olivia Rose Austin roses with the dahlias. The dahlias include: Totally Tangerine, Fancy Pants, Great Silence, Daisy Duke and Jowey Frambo. Gladiolus: Pink Parrot. Verbena Bonariansis. I used chickenwire to help the flowers stay in place. It’s a bit awkward, but much better than having nothing (and floral foam isn’t good for the environment). I was happy how the colors worked together! I think the Fancy Pants dahlias are my favorite for their unique shape.

6 – Pictures from my bike ride along the Copper Coast in Waterford. Woohoo! I was so darn pleased with myself at the end of this cycle. It was challenging for me, but between the views, the weather, and the group I was with, it was such an awesome experience. I was definitely feeling the dopamine after this! (We did a 64 km route, which isn’t considered a long route, but it was perfect for me.) I can’t say it enough: Ireland is a beautiful country and so worth exploring! You can learn more about the beautiful Copper Coast here.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed the tour. Have you planned your next trip to Ireland yet? 🙂

Hi there! Ever notice that there is a change in the air in August? Maybe it’s a change in temperature, or maybe it’s just natural excitement as talk begins about the kids going back to school or college. I’m in no hurry to rush summer along, but I can feel that things are changing. My flowers seem to be happy, though! The dahlias are blooming, the hydrangea are filling out, the butterflies are visiting and the sunflowers continue to bloom.

I’ll be joining Jim at Garden Ruminations for our Six on Saturday meme. It’s a lovely way to see other gardens from around the world!

I hope you’ll enjoy the tour.

In Peace,
Dana

1 & 2 – Hydrangea ‘Vanille Fraise’ Paniculata ‘Renhy’ and Agapanthus Blue Umbrella. The Vanille Fraise hydrangea’s flowers have never been as big as this year. And they are so full! The Agapanthus has been moved around the garden a couple of times, never blooming before this year. I’m not 100% sure it is completely happy where it is, though, as I think it would prefer a bit more sun. I’ll be on the lookout for a new location!

Two pictures of butterflies (Red Admiral and Peacock), Pink Olivia Rose Austin roses, and California poppy (orange) with yellow potentilla.

3, 4 & 5 – From top right: Pink Olivia Rose Austin roses, Red Admiral butterfly on Buddleia Buzz ‘Dark Pink’ Butterfly Bush, California poppy (orange) with yellow Potentilla shrub, Peacock butterfly on Buddleia Buzz butterfly bush.

The first thing I noticed about the roses, after seeing the pretty flowers and buds, were the leaves, which are a beautiful green. This is quite noticeable in my yard at this time of year as it is not uncommon for the rose shrubs to be covered in black spot! What a treat to see this shrub looking so well.

I had the pleasure of weeding near the butterfly bush this week. It is now quite fragrant, and attracts so many butterflies to its sweet flowers. One day it was only covered in Peacock butterflies, but the next time there were three varieties (the third being small Tortoiseshell). What a treat!

flower arrangement of sunflowers and dahlias and Japanese anemone

6 – Flower arrangement with sunflowers, dahlias and Japanese anemone. Dahlias: ‘Hartenaas’, ‘Great Silence’, ‘Creme de Cassis’, ‘Wizard of Oz’. This week I’ve made a pink themed flower arrangement. I like the challenge of finding enough flowers in the garden to make an arrangement!

Thanks so much for visiting. I’m hoping I’ll have more dahlias blooming next week to try another arrangement! 🙂

Mom in the Garden

Enjoying life. In Ireland. With my family.

Tag Archives: dahlia ‘Great Silence’

Roses, Dahlias and Sunflowers in a September garden

There’s a change in the air but the plants don’t care!