hello cc
and, getting bored by winter...? Weird, we have an absurd warm winter right now, but frost will come at some point, we will see

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my champion last year was Taratahy Ruby (looks like a smaller Firepot or something, if I remember correctly)

great for bouquets and I just loved that bright warm red

Bye, Lin

So glad I will be getting AC Ben as a trade! That's so pretty!

I just potted up my HH Miss Scarlet and HH Miss Toni I purchased at the Garden Show and it felt...So special! Just to be starting these plump little brown tubers to turn them into big green bushes full of flowers! They should be fine in the greenhouse as along as our temps are moderate and I can make cuttings from them. IF it gets real cool again I can move them to my warm workroom. Past experience has convinced me that its better to pot them up once they have been out and about :-)

This is not my favorite blooms from last year, but probably my favorite arrangement.

This time of year is great for looking through last years gardening pics. Its reassuring that it won't always be cold and white outside.

Thanks Mandolls, this is an interesting arrangement. Would you please name the different materials you are using? I really enjoy seeing how different people use dahlias in mixed arrangements perhaps others will post some more pictures.

Here's one bouquet I made last fall using autumn colors. The dahlias are Pam Howden, Raw Hide, Freckle Face and Maniac. Other materials were white lisianthus, sedum Autumn Joy, ornamntal grass tassles, dried yarrow, dried perennial statice and dried poppy pods

Nice Steve - I have never dried spring flowers to use later - I like that idea, and I didn't know yarrow could be dried at all. I especially like those poppy seed pods and the reddish grass tassels in your arrangement.

In my vase - I think the Dahlias in the center are McAllister's Pride and Touche and there is a Ginger Willo pom. There are lavender and white Tower Asters, a few Zinnia, Black Dragon Coleus, Angle Wing Begonia, a spike of Liatrus, some of a similar sedum to yours, (but before it turned red), and nasturtium vine. I had a lot of nasturtium growing last year, and really liked using it in arrangements. It held up much better than I expected it to.

I know this one is a bit of a crazy mish mash of flowers. I think the reason I am drawn to it is that I had never used so many different textures all together before.

Here is another one with nasturtium, not a very balanced arrangements, but I love the linear nasturtium. The red Dahlia is Dana Iris, the purples are NOIDs, there is a green envy Zinnia in the back and some of the same sedum.

I find the idea of using vines like Nasturtium for greenery rather intriguing. I've seen ivy used in arrangements too though usually they are low lying table arrangements with the ivy trainling a long the table. I've used Vinca occaionally and it hold up very well. Another vine I haven't tried but seems like it would work well is sweet potato, either edible or ornamental would work. I know the vines root easily in water so they would have a very good vase life likely putting out roots and growing in the water.

The gold Achillea filipendulina yarrow cultivars like Coronation Gold, Cloth of God, Parker's, etc., dry very easily and hold their shape and color well. Just cut them at their prime and hang them upside down in a warm dry location. The other types of yarrow are much more prone to wilting though they could probably be dried in silica gel.