Laughing Ravens

unknown variety of dahlia   What changed? How does one go from not caring one iota about dahlias to suddenly having huge plantings of them throughout the garden? For that matter, how does one afford such largesse?  The simple answer is that dahlias are seductive. They lure you in with their rich color and forms... and then you're hooked. Luckily, they are also (generally) prolific growers. One tuber begets many tubers. This is a good thing because buying new tubers can be expensive.     What I discovered in year two was that dahlias grown from seed are a crap shoot.  I don't mean that it isn't worth doing, but rather you have no clue what you might get. Dahlias are promiscuous as can be. I can't count the number of photographs I have of dahlias that have bees in them. I would guess over 2/3 of the images have bees in them. None of my other flowers in the garden have that level of attraction. One caveat I will mention is that bees are drawn to the open cente...

Sino-siberian iris, 'Dotted Line' (Lorena Reid, R. 1991).    Image from Cascadia Iris Gardens I went outside this morning and it wasn't quite 20 ° F. There's no snow on the ground. The weather has been vacillating wildly between above freezing temperatures (usually with dreary skies and rain) and serious cold. So far this winter, it has been fairly mild. While there have been major snowstorms that have occurred near us, we've landed in a weird bubble once again. Once the cold sets in (like today), it doesn't take much for me to wish for the warmer, sloppier weather to return.  I know that the plants I love make use of this cold and snow cover for their dormancy. I try to reassure myself that the newly planted irises wont be damaged by the cold. The blanket of mulch I put down in October should help moderate the wild swings in air temperature. But I wont know until springtime. What makes it difficult? Where did that title come from? Why ask the question in the mi...