I never expected to enjoy gardening as much as I do. Particularly having flower gardens and planting flowers.
At first I mainly saw flowers as subjects for photography. And that is still a huge part of the reason I love having flowers. But I also love the beauty they bring to our yard. I also love that they bring so many different birds, insects, and other wildlife to our yard as sources of food etc.
Watching hummingbirds, butterflies, and moths feed on the nectar from flowers is so tranquil. Other birds eating the seeds of flowers after they complete their bloom cycle is joyful to watch.
Over the years that we have been planting flowers in our yard I have cycled through different varieties of flowers that have been my favorites. But I have really gravitated to Dahlia’s in recent years. They are annuals that come in a wide variety of types and colors. There are soooo many different colors. Some are tall and skinny stalk plants and some have huge blooms.
And what I really like is that they are pretty reliable to overwinter. That way I don’t have to buy quite so many every year. I created a set up in my basement where I keep them safe from the cold of winter. And as spring approaches they start to grow again and then once frost finally starts I will put them back outside agian.
These photos are from my first Dahlias that I overwintered this year to start flowering. I have been waiting so long, so I wanted to show them off a little. Maybe some day if our crazy spring weather in upstate NY didn’t keep throwing random days of frost at us I would be able to put them outside earlier and maybe get blooms earlier in the year.
These flowers actually started blooming on the 4th of July.
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