Friday fleurs

As you can tell, I love color, particularly in the garden! My favorites this week are each a bit unusual.

Can you tell what this flower is? It is usually pink, white or purple, has no scent and takes months to germinate from seed. It originated from the prairie gentian. 

This coloration is not seen often- more of a rogue. It has a color-washed look to it.

I included this rose because it looks like someone took their paint brush to it. No, I don't know its name! Perhaps I should be more attentive...

I believe this is the third year for us to grow dahlias. They require lots of water, can get by with partial sun, although they prefer as much as possible. They also require some sort of staking. If you get lax about this, they'll fall over. The good thing is that they are very adaptable and will change direction and continue to grow upwards again. We have a few dahlias that fell, the stems were actually horizontal, adapted and are now all growing upwards again, with the stems actually like an "L". We don't pamper many plants here! Our rule of thumb is that if it can live in a pot outside all winter and still survive, it is welcome in our garden!

Check out this dahlia. Most of the blooms are the deep, rich burgundy, but this has a few white petals thrown in for good measure.

Have a great Labor Day weekend! Hopefully, Hurricane Earl will miss most of the U.S.! 

I'll be joining the decorating team and working on two weddings. Yeah for the return of the cooler weather!

Thank you, Cindy, at My Romantic Home, for Show & Tell Friday.

Thank you, Artie at Color Outside the Lines for Vignette Friday.