dahlia

They mingle with puffy red and fuchsia dahlias and purple phlox, as well as hydrangeas, sedum and Creeping Jenny, a ground cover that doubles as paths for strolling.

White marigolds and green onions are planted to help deter the skunks, raccoons and squirrels that like to pull out her dahlias.

I reached out to a couple of local flower farmers for their best tips on growing dahlias in the Puget Sound region:

A total eclipse of the sun is said to look like a black dahlia or a monochrome sunflower.

The tables featured papier-mâché vases, dahlias she’d grown herself and a few buckets of flowers from Little Jack Flower Farm in Snohomish.