Way back at the start of the season, I planted a bunch of Dahlia tubers – Two called Cafe Au Lait, and two unnamed ones from the dollar store (one a dark purple/red, and another a bright pink).

At first, they took off pretty well (with the exception of the bright pink one) and then they just kind of stopped. They didn’t die.. but they didn’t grow either.

But as soon as the weather turned at the end of September….

The red purple one just exploded with flowers.

Cafe Au Lait grew nicely. But she just didn’t seem to want to bloom. Finally, about a week and a half ago, she put up one single bud. And I’ve been waiting…and waiting… and waiting for it to open.

Mid week, it finally did.

Was it worth the wait? Absolutely!

But…. I have to dig the darn plant up this weekend it I want to keep it for next year. Dahlias aren’t hardy here and I need to store the tubers over winter so I can enjoy her again next year. Sigh….

I think I’ll start my Dahlias indoors next year… and see if I can get the full season out of them.

In the meantime – here are my other Dahlias. These ones were bought as grown plants instead of started from tubers. They also struggled this summer, but have done better than the ones I started. But they are certainly shining now.