Dahlia Weather

Wow! The weather has been almost perfect for dahlia growing in the past week...Other than some afternoon winds (where in the world do these come from?!)the cool overnights and mornings, warming with the sun as the day wears on - are about as ideal as a dahlia grower could wish for. I stopped by the Tony DeRooy Memorial Garden on Saturday. Fernie was the only one there when I got there, and the garden really looked beautiful. It has been years since it was so nice, due in part to the irrigation system that we may have finally gotten right. Fernie was busy disbudding not only her dahlias, but also helping Ray by taking care of his rows. Ray, a man who lives for the Dahlia Show each year, has been in the hospital and then laid up at home with cardiac arrhythmia. He is likely to get a pacemaker but that hasn't happened yet. I hear that both Ray and his wife Bev are very frustrated, waiting to see what will be done. Ray ONLY grows A or AA blooms, and this year, they are huge! One of his plants of Vassio Meggos has about 6 fully bloomed flowers that are easily the size of dinner plates, and his Kidd's Climax plant has blooms that are more the size of AA than the A that it is classified as. Ray is so devoted to his dahlias and the Emerson Street Garden that everyone in the club wants to do whatever we can to help him be a part of the show this year, in spite of his illness. These halcyon days have created daily, almost hourly, growth of flower buds, and disbudding is necessary. As Fernie said, "It is a full time job." This is the first year that I have had the luxury of time as we approach the annual show, and I feel like I finally know a little of what Dad felt, anticipating the show each year. I have been able to spend a lot of time planning my arrangements to enter, making flyers and working on promotional materials for the club, and creating bookmarks and notecards for sale at the show. Today I will create a flyer for the Master Gardener's to hand out at their show on Saturday, in hopes that more of them will be able to attend the show. I also re-created a clever little note-taking guide for people who see dahlias that they really want to buy next year at the tuber sale. This was created by a couple other members last year, and was a huge help to people!

I just checked my little backyard garden, and it looks like I will have a few things to enter in the show, although not a lot. Vicki and Debbie will work with me on Friday night, cutting at the Russell Street Garden. Those flowers will be entered under the tag of "DeRooy Gardens", since it was originated by Dad and is maintained by the three of us. It will be an exciting show, and we really look forward to the talented and experienced judging team coming over from the Seattle area. These folks know their stuff and have a lot to teach us. Well, it's off to Office Depot for copies and to buy some clipboards for the judges to use......