we're known for our dahlias in our little section of western massachusetts. and sometimes we host the local garden club to come view our efforts. do i raise them for sale? for my floral arrangements? for sport? perhaps yes to all the above.

dahlias are one of my favorite flowers to grow. they're dependable. they bloom a ton. they kind of take care of themselves (after i tie them back to a stake).

this season, pete and i thought it would be fun to document our growing process. we planted 161 plants this season. it was suppose to be 160 but then i realized i forgot to plant a variety so 161 it is. i made room for more varieties by cutting back on the cafe au lait dahlias. gasp! it was very hard to do so but as pretty as the CALs are, they are finicky to keep once cut.

i posted my growing tips last year so i won't go into much detail this time around. this year, however, i did more planning around my dahlia bed layout and inventory ahead of planting which saved a lot of time. for me, much of the process (and time) is figuring out what to plant where. once i had a plan, it was quick work to get the dahlias planted.