Fenton Friday: Dahlia Debut

The Dahlias are opening! As the rains from Hurricane Ian arrive in our region, I ran out to cut some of the dahlias from our garden plot before they become too waterlogged. We need the rain after a very dry last couple of weeks, so it will be nice to enjoy the blooms indoors.

Speaking of Dahlias, we attended the national American Dahlia Society meeting last weekend in Reston, VA. See a summary of that event here and tips for growing Dahlias here.

The rest of the plot is cooking along with the cool-season seedlings all putting on good growth including the Golden Chard, Kale, Broccoli, 'Round Black Spanish' Radish, Bauer' Lettuce, and 'Snak Hero' Snap Peas.

We are still picking a few handfuls a week from the Cucamelons (Melothria scabra), cherry tomatoes, okra, and peppers -- along with cutting small bouquets of the Zinnias, Celosia, Marigolds, and Tithonia.

The Holy Basil is flowering and setting seeds, which I hope to collect and share.

My big pumpkin is still about half-way orange and more small pumpkins have formed on the vine. I'm not sure those little ones will be able to harden off before it gets cold here.

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 11th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.