“I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.” ~Claude Monet
I have to wonder if Claude Monet had observed Dahlias when he made that remark! Dahlias are my new discovery! I’d always known they existed, but it was just recently that I became obsessive about them!
A blogger friend, Cee, has been a big influence for me in my “Dahlia Discovery”! Cee loves Dahlias and takes gorgeous photos of these lovely flowers. Here’s a link to a post on her blog with amazingly beautiful dahlia photography. Click here to see it. Cee knows the names of the flowers and has been a dahlia fan for a long time. Check out her blog! Thanks, Cee!
Dahlias range from 2″ in diameter to over 10″ in diameter!
Beautiful multiple-petaled flowers smile in the sunshine.
Did you know that Dahlias were introduced in Europe at the end of the 18th century?
A bright and cheery yellow dahlia.
The dahlia is the Official Flower of Mexico, Seattle and San Francisco.
There are two pink dahlias in this photo. One is hiding behind the dahlia in the foreground.
Dahlias are in the same family as Chrysanthemums, and often are hard to tell apart.
Dahlia or Chrysanthemum? 😉
There are approximately 50,000 named varieties of Dahlias.
Without the use of my tripod or macro lens, besides taking photos in the middle of the day….I knew I was in for some iffy shots! But I was tickled Pink with this one. 😉
“The Queen” ~in the middle of a garden, being “guarded” by other flowers! I could not get close enough to take a clear photo. However, I thought this dahlia was a stunning example of the species.
“The Queen”~so named by me~ 😉
“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.” ~Luther Burbank
The Weekly Image of Life post: Discovery, is brought to you by Island Traveler’s blog: “This Man’s Journey”. Check out his post on Discovery, here, and join the rest of us…by telling us what you’ve discovered in your life. Each Wednesday, Island Traveler will post a new challenge. Come join the fun!
Thanks for visiting!
Judy
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Beautiful as always! 🙂
Hey, Jules! Thanks! Kinda out of focus…but then again…that’s me! 😉 lol
Over 50,000? WOW! Great vibrant colors and lighting is superb.
Isn’t that amazing, Todd? I was shocked! Thanks for your compliments!
Nice flowers.in your garden??
Hi Jace….Thank you…but these are in a hotel’s gardens. I wish they were in mine! 😉
Great images Judy. Great detail and stunning colours.
Thank you, Jim. As I mentioned, I was without my macro and tripod. And I was battling a stiff breeze! They weren’t fantastic…but I was happy with the results of these “new to me”~lovely flowers! Have a great evening!
Dahlias reminds me of the Sun…radiant, glowing, warm, beautiful. My sister is a fan and made a collection of it. It is a perfect centerpiece in any garden. It’s a joy to see these images coming to life through your words and very vivid capture of the flowers. And I agree, ““Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.” Have a great day my friend. Thank you.
Thank you Island Traveler! I am having fun with my new discovery! I’m not sure I can plant them successfully in the north…but I’ll try. They bloom 3 months after planting in May! That would take most of our summer for them to pop up!
They need a long warm season, which we don’t have. But I discovered them in the Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island) gardens. They are 4 hours north of us! Thanks for your kind words….have a great day too!
They really are gorgeous flowers! And very pretty in all those different colors. They really stand out in a garden… 🙂
You’re right~ they do stand out! I think they are so cool looking! Thanks Meg!
These are simply gorgeous!!! WOW! I didn’t realize there were over 50,000 varieties. Thanks for the mention. I’m glad I had a small part of your loving dahlias!!!
Believe me, Cee….you had a very Large part! First, I fell in love with your header.. I thought: what is that stunning flower? Then you had a post about dahlias and I figured it must be a dahlia! 😉 I went over and over the details of all your fabulous photos. I was absolutely smitten with dahlias by then! I was so excited to find these in the gardens around the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Thanks for your kind words, and your inspiration!!
Nice how someone can turn to you appreciate something new. 50,000 varieties? I had no idea. These photos are beautiful Judy.
Thank you Tess! It was fun to become inspired about dahlias from Cee’s blog. I know…and that’s 50,000 NAMED varieties! There must be some hanging around out there that aren’t named, poor things!
My real name is Dahlia and I knew since I can’t remember when that I am named after that flower but only when I was 23 when I get to see an actual dahlia flower. And I was impressed. 🙂 Beautiful colors and petals. These photos are amazing!
Well, then I love your name, Dahlia! I wonder if your name means “beautiful flower”. They are just stunning flowers! Thank you for your compliment and visit!
This is a beautiful post Judy! I love your photos, and my favourites are no. 2 and the last one – so, so gorgeous! 🙂
Thank you very much, zelmare. I do favor that last one, also! I need to get back to your blog….been so busy around home here. ;( I miss not reading about the farm and the babes!
I love love l-o-v-e dahlias !!! Are these all in your garden ? They are fantastic ! I didn’t know they were in the same family of chrysanthemum. See, I always learn something in your blog ! I really love the yellow ones and the pink one too and the red one that looks like a chrysanthemum. Well, I think I love them all ! These photos are absolutely beautiful and gorgeous and I love your last shot of the Queen ! I’m gonna buy some next summer, I would love to have the big ones. Did you saw Georgianna Lane’s blog post on dahlias recently ?
I’m going to take a look at the blogs you mentioned, it must be fun to participate in the Weekly Image Of Life post. A great post Judy, I always love it when you post photos of your flowers 🙂
Thanks but no. I found them in the gardens at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island! I was so excited to find them. You’ve got them in your garden! I want to plant them now. But our growing season is so short.
After you plant the tubers (in spring, after the last frost date), it takes 3 months for them to bloom! That’s our whole summer. 😉 They will then bloom into fall. I’ll try it for sure! I am seriously head over heels with these flowers. They remind me of your gorgeous peonies!
Yes, they remind me of peonies too ! This year I planted a dahlia in a pot, I wasn’t sure if it was going to work but it did ! Next year I’ll have a new flowerbed and you can be sure I’ll try the big ones, even if it takes 3 months !
Then we’ll both be Dahlia darlings next summer! 😉 I’m impressed that yours grew in a pot! You have a perfect green thumb!
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Gorgeous Dahlias! And I love your new look 🙂
Hi Madhu! Thanks so much! I’m newly in love with Dahlias thanks to Cee!
Lovely!! The Philadelphia Dahlia Show was at Longwood Gardens last weekend… they had some truly huge blooms!! I’m going to try some of the larger cultivars next year.
Victoria…thank you very much…I intend to try dahlias period~this year! My very first visit to Longwood was this spring with my cousin. Oh my…what a gorgeous place that is! I did a post on it here. I was totally enthralled! Between Longwood and Winterthur, I was in heaven! Thanks for visiting! Come back!
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Beautiful images Judy and I did not know a thing about this flower..thanks for sharing.
I am so late on this weekly image series but happy to discover so much about this wonderful flower.
Sunshine….I’m always late! Thanks for your kind words, dear friend! 😉
😉
Thanks, Sunshine!
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