Finally a Finish

Another amazing weather day today. It reached 92 degrees and yesterday it was 93 degrees. I don't think that I can ever remember such a warm Labor Day Weekend before. But we deserve it after the Spring and early Summer we had. It is giving me hope that some of my vegetable crops may mature after all- fingers crossed! I spent part of my day finishing my big weeding project down in the dahlia garden. It feels so nice to have that finished and off my "to-do" list. Tomorrow morning we are going to mow that grass around the garden and then things should be looking pretty ship-shape.

The "Persian Carpet" Zinnias that I direct planted from seed in the garden in July are just starting to bloom now. I probably have ten plants blooming but all of them are close. They produce such a beautiful mix of colors and will bloom profusely until frost.

One of the first to open this year.

New dahlia varieties continue to bloom as well. This is "Haley's Dream" a miniature cactus bi-colored in dark pink & white. Ever since an entry of mine was beaten by this variety in a show a few years ago, I have wanted to grow it myself. Like most miniatures it seems to produce a lot of blooms. I like it.

Another new variety for me: "Camano Susan". This is a BB sized semi-cactus in orange. As the bloom ages the center begins to open in yellow. A beautiful combination.

And yet another new variety for me - "Belred Sunset".  It is listed as a BB cactus red but in my garden it appears to be growing as an incurved cactus.