Dahlias

I've wanted to have dahlias in my garden since I took a trip to Alaska in the summer of 2012 and saw them in gardens there. I went to the grocery store today, and there was a big display of bulbs, including may varieties/colors of dahlias! It was clearly fate.

They are already planted.

Here are some of the pictures from Alaska:

Yardwork and deer

My awesome horticultural friend Allison came over to prune this giant hedge today.

We discovered mysterious bright blue spots on the leaves of my dwarf mandarin tree. Anyone have any idea what this is?? (Click to see bigger picture.)

And then we saw a mama and baby deer in the next door neighbor's yard.

Look at those giant ears turning all around!

Aphids

There are aphids on the parsley.

Since the parsley plants are small, my first response is manual extermination: squishing all the aphids I find between my fingers. The second response is to eat the parsley more quickly.