orange dahlias: memories, neighbors, and changing gardens
Today, as I picked a handful of orange dahlias from my backyard, I was swept back to my childhood summers in my grandmother’s garden. She believed in letting flowers grow wild, their colors spilling over the fence, a symbol of freedom and abundance. Now, in our North American neighborhoods, I see more and more folks turning to tidy, minimalist flower beds, sometimes even pulling out the old dahlias for neat rows of succulents or gravel.
It makes me wonder—are we losing something precious in the name of modern landscaping? My dahlias struggle through unpredictable Midwest storms and heatwaves, but their resilience reminds me of the generations before us who trusted in nature’s cycles. Some of my neighbors complain that my blooms are too unruly, not fitting the HOA’s vision of order. Others stop to admire their bold color, recalling their own family gardens from years past.
There’s a quiet battle blooming between tradition and trend, between letting nature heal us and following the latest gardening rules. As I arrange my orange dahlias in a vase, I can’t help but feel that every petal carries a story—of family, of place, and of the ongoing tug-of-war between old and new ways of growing beauty at home.
#dahlias #gardeningmemories #familytradition #Gardening
