Flower for the Day First Dahlia 6-18-24

This dahlia is the only one  that wintered over and it bloomed about a month ago. It will continue to bloom until the fall. 

The dahlias that i have planted newly will not bloom until August. Dahlias are in the Asteraceae  family which name refers to the appearance of a star with surrounding rays. The dahlia has a flower head that is actually a composite (hence the older name Compositae) with both central disc  florets and surrounding ray florets. Each floret is a flower in its own right, but is often incorrectly described as a petal. 

     florid blossom

  adorned in dew drops
    dahlia sunrise

        J. White