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happy and healthy earth day everyone…

in “celebration” of earth day (which in my opinion should be celebrated everyday), we planted sixteen dahlia tubers yesterday.   the bouquet pictured above are a few of last year’s blooms.

this season i chose sixteen dahlias of varying shapes, sizes and plant heights…all extremely “colorful”.    sometime in july/august we will be cutting dahlias by the dozens to share with friends, neighbors, family, local businesses, co-workers.  maybe i’ll give away dahlia bouquets on the street corner?!

though there is a fair bit of prep on the day of planting (turning the soil, digging the holes and amending the soil, planting the tubers horizontally, staking them, deciding on placement) once they’ve popped through the ground we just stand back and are amazed and thrilled with their prolific growth.    ***see link below for our favorite dahlia source***

yesterday the elements conspired perfectly with our dahlia planting “mission”.   it was a beautiful spring day…sunny and warm with a slight breeze.  though we have a variety of plants growing in our yard:  flowers, fruit trees, vines, succulents, vegetables, herbs…the dahlias hold a special place in my heart.  you see, my italian nonna (grandmother) grew dahlias.   she would take me and my siblings out to her extensive garden and as she clipped the blooms, she would hand them to us for bouquets.  thinking about those days in her garden, i can hear her chatting in italian (animated!) and instilling in us a love for nature, food and the bountiful earth.    thankfully she and my nonno lived only one mile away and visiting was frequent and fun.

i hope you enjoy this bouquet of dahlias…and perhaps be inspired to plant a few yourself!

elena

www.dahlias.com(swan island dahlias)