121228 - Imperial Dahlia

Two years ago, Phil planted several imperial dahlias in the side garden, which gets late afternoon sun in the summer and fall.

They were rather disappointing their first year.

This winter, after growing taller than sixteen feet, they went into bloom, their flowers bigger than my hand.

071231 - Imperial dahlia

Here's a view from the gardens of the Pacific Ocean on New Year's Eve, 2007.

The imperial dahlia, also know as tree dahlia, had reached a height of about fifteen feet before going into bloom.

I remember this day as sunny and warm.

Only a week or two later, though, we had a massive winter storm, with lots of rain and hurricane-strength gusts, which ripped this imperial dahlia in half.

I scavenged its flowers to make a nice arrangement in the front room.