OK - I'll just spend a minute on the boxes, since that is my subject line, and that song keeps going 'round and 'round in my brain. (Thanks, Deb!) I have three of my four boxes made for this year's garden - each box, 8'x4'x12" deep - ready to be filled with topsoil, compost and peat, in order to create what I hope will be a much improved growing environment for my precious tubers. My sister Deb (see parenthetical thank-you, above!) was so impressed that she decided to build one for her back yard, too. Deb has never had a garden on her property, other than some lovely carrots that she and her darling carrot-topped grandson, Anthony (guess who he was named for?) grew last year. She and I went to Home Depot yesterday, and sifted through their untreated lumber, looking for at least three planks that did not have terrible cracks that went all the way through from front to back. We emerged victorious, after having the wood cut to size on one of those great big industrial saws, and loaded our plunder into the back of her Ford pickup truck. The first step, after unloading at my house, was to coat the planks with linseed oil......but wouldn't you just know it - it started to rain before we could get both sides done....As a result, the planks remain in the back yard, 24 hours later, waiting for the oil to dry and for the rain to stop long enough for us to drill holes and connect the boards with screws and corner brackets, resulting in the "little boxes" that we love so much. With any luck, we should have them done some time tomorrow. Considering that we probably will not be able to plant until late April or Early May, we should have plenty of time to fill our little "ticky-tackies" with the perfect mix in time to receive the tubers that represent our hopes and future dahlia-dreams.
OK - I know I promised not to write much about that - and I did run on a bit.....But I'm excited about a couple things that I just want to mention - I had an e-mail from Bernie Wilson today, and he tells me that he has managed to collect a number of tubers that represent either new introductions or relatively recent hybridizations that we probably don't have here, for our tuber auction. He will make a list for me to use when I prepare for our FIRST EVER tuber auction on April 14. I hope lots of people will be able to come - if you're reading this, YOU are invited - Apple Blossom Offices, downstairs at 6:00 pm....Hope to see you there!
The other thing that has my blood racing is the collection of photos by Colin Walker, a member of the Northwest Federation of Dahlia Growers, and photographer extraordinaire! I have spent much of this afternoon, viewing a slideshow of some fabulous photos of some wonderful dahlias - I could spend all day just watching these images fade from one beautiful dahlia to the next. To access these photos, just go to our site (www.ncwdahlias.org) and click on the "links" tab, go to "other links" and Colin Walker's link is the first on the list - just click on it, and then, select "slideshow", sit back and enjoy! I highly recommend it....
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