Life at No.22, Snapshots of Tauranga

Snapshots of Tauranga #45

Suzanne

Let’s chat about dahlias.

Who knew they were currently so popular? Well, they are, if my Instagram and Facebook feeds are anything to go by. Even in real life, their beautiful flowers are abundant in bouquets and markets, in buckets alongside other homegrown floral delights, and on the roadside around our lovely suburban and urban areas.

The population of bees seem to be the same as the previous growing season.

It all started with my eyeing punnets of dahlias at our local garden centre during early summer. As usual, I was diverted from the task at hand, which was to look for and purchase healthy-looking vegetable punnets. I managed to make up my mind and chose a few dahlia punnets, the short variety, as I’m wary of growing the tall ones due to the garden area being a bit of a wind tunnel. Though perhaps in the 2026/27 growing season, I might be more adventurous with their size and the various shapes of their blooms. You never know, and it’s quite delightful watching flowers become fairy-like dancing in the garden on a windy day.

This year, the population of monarch butterflies is a different story, as they have been as rare as hen’s teeth or a spinach leaf without being eaten by bugs by the ever-undesirable white butterfly.

As we near the end of the flowering season, I keep nudging and encouraging the lovely Dahlias to give us just one or two more blooms. By deadheading the old, and a quiet threat that if they don’t keep performing, out they go. Seems to be working.

The Garden

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Published by Suzanne

I'm a lover of creativity and movement, expressed through photography, words, travel and sports. . . . . . .

19 thoughts on “Snapshots of Tauranga #45”

    1. Good to “see” you again, are you out of hibernation now? If you’re referring to the cover image, it’s from another garden. The red ones I’m growing are nearly as special.

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  2. I’m a fan of dahlias, too. I had a couple nice ones last year. I’m not sure they regrow this spring, so I’ll probably get a couple more. I also tried saving gladiolus bulbs. We’ll see how it goes.

    The most impressive dahlia garden I’ve ever seen was in Salzburg, near the gazebo featured in “The Sound of Music.” They were taller than my husband!

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    1. I know you are Eilene. One of the wonderful things about having blogging friends from around the world is that when our garden is not so spectacular, yours will be. No pressure.
      Wow, that garden does sound incredible. The public gardens in Europe are out on their own. One day, I will make up for the time I haven’t had to visit more public gardens away from home.

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      1. I also love visiting public gardens around the world. Mine will never measure up. I don’t have the energy or desire to accomplish so much. If it grows, it grows. And if it’s untidy, I’m okay with that, too!

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