Lil' Dahlia That Could

So I have to say, I do not have a green thumb what so ever. But I want to have a green thumb... I want to have a green thumb really, really bad. My whole obsession with wanting my thumb to turn green started with this small dahlia plant.

You see, Dr. Sales at work is a HUGE green thumb. He is all into it and has his own green house that he spends an obscene amount of time making hybrid plants and doing all kinds of things that are too smart for my explanations. Every year he brings in a bunch of dahlia plants for the nurses to take. He brought about 20 plants this year and we each got to pick one.

The one I picked was based on one thing and one thing only, it was the ugliest. I picked the ugly one because I tend to always go with the underdog. I knew no one else would want the sad little plant that was all wilted, barely 8 inches tall, and falling over.

And so, I felt it was my duty to take the little guy and see what I could do. I took him home late May, and planted him in the front of our house. I surrounded him with Miracle Grow, put him right in the front where the sun always hits, and watered daily. Religiously. My little plant grew and grew... huge, to above my waist, but no blooms. Each week over the summer months Dr. Sales would bring in his own beautiful dahlias and place them in a vase in the nursing station, talk about frustrating... How does he get all these gorgeous blooms and I have nothing? Finally I asked him, he quizzed me on what I have been doing to maintain my plant, and I said Miracle Grow, a lot of Miracle Grow... he told me that was my problem... rambling on about how there is either too much phosphorus or nitrogen or something in the dirt. He told me to do something else, that I forget now, but low and behold before I had too, I started getting blooms. This was 2 weeks ago. I feel like a mother showing off her kid who is bad at baseball, but she thinks is the best.... see for yourself.

Here's when it first started opening up...

A few days later....

And then just a couple days ago.

My little guy is so big now, he is falling over. I have a tomato planter around him as well as string attached to my front porch trying to hold him up, but it's still not working. Oh well, I have to take him out of the ground anyways for winter.

There are 5 more blooms on the plant right now, but I don't think they will open. But that's okay, I just wanted one, and I got two, so I am happy.

It is my goal this winter to research about plants and flowers so that I can do a little colorful landscaping in the spring. Hopefully, I'll learn something.