Delightful Dahlias

For a little less than a year, Hubby & I  fulfilled one of our dreams and lived at the beach. Our time was split between living one week in the city cottage, and the following week at the beach condo. The community at the coast is pretty, historic, walkable, surfy and touristy. While playing beach combing-resident I wasn't employed so I was able to be a tourist-in-my-own-town during the day.

The village of Capitola is in the background of the picture above. It sits on the cliffs where the grove of eucalyptus are clumped at the tip of peninsula. California ocean breezes. Warm golden sun and sunsets. Fog oft times too. Tide pool searching, miles of sand strolling.

Along one of my walking routes there was a home with attached gardens that bloomed profusely in the summer with dahlias. The sun-worn matriarch gardeness was named Milly. She would invite you to come have a look inside if she were out tending. I would walk up to the gate and enter... well, enter cautiously as she had some dogs. What a beautiful sight the rows of dahlias made.




Milly in all of her glory...

I've made an annual pilgrimage to the dahlias.

Dependant on how many buds she had blooming you could get Milly to cut you 6, 8, 10 stems then she'd charge you a small amount and even put the show-stoppers in a glass vessel filled with water! I love the journey over the hill to visit this grand gal and her garden of delight!

One of the FINDS of a lifetime!!