Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Dahlia

Dahlia flowers always amaze me - they are always so perfect. This one was, unfortunately, partly in the shade and I could do nothing about it. Just a quick shot taken in the small garden at the Bowden Sunflower Maze. Three days ago, on 12 September 2015, I drove further than I've ever driven before in one day - a total of 410 km (254 miles). I met my daughter at 9:00 am and we headed northwards, with our main destination being the Bowden Sunflower Maze. She felt well enough now after her recent hospital stay, to get out for a day trip. The quickest route from Calgary is a distance of 96 km (60 miles), but I needed to avoid the main, busy route. Also, the backroads are more pleasant to drive - less traffic and, if one is lucky, one will find the occasional old barn. There was one barn in particular that I had seen last year, that I really wanted to show my daughter and this took us a little out of our way. We drove through the town of Olds, stopping briefly to take a couple of photos of the bright orange grain elevator. Haven't been able to find any information about this Pioneer elevator. Going north, we drove the roads to the west of the main Highway 2, and on our return trip we drove the roads to the east of Highway 2. I think this trip really convinced my daughter, more strongly than ever, that sadly she has a mother with almost zero sense of direction! This was the first time I had ever been to Bowden and the Sunflower Maze. For years, I had wished we had a field of Sunflowers somewhere within reach, as I had seen so many gorgeous photos taken by other people in various parts of the world. I certainly didn't get photos like those, but I was happy to get the shots I did get. Apparently, this past weekend was going to be the last chance to really see the flowers, so we were just in time. The maze at Eagle Creek Farms is apparently the only Sunflower Maze in Canada. There is also an adjoining Corn Maze, but neither of us wanted to walk through that one, thanks to remembering the horror movie, "Children of the Corn"! The farm also has U-pick vegetables and flowers. www.sunmaze.ca/ Thanks, Rachel, for spending the day with me - and for all your directions getting us there and back to the city! Lucky we went when we did, as it has been raining ever since.

Another image from my archives, found tucked away in an old "To maybe post on Flickr" folder. I find that I have now reached a point where I can't always remember which photos I have posted or not posted, after uploading 8,736 photos to my photostream, lol!! Thank heavens for Flickr's Archives feature, which I have just started to use! This beautiful Dahlia was in a small bunch of flowers that I had bought from Safeway.

This is just a quick shot of a beautiful Dahlia growing at the Trochu Arboretum, NE of Calgary. We called in on our way home from Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park on 15 July 2012. It rained all day, which made taking photos pretty much impossible, but I just couldn't resist snapping a quick shot of this beautiful bloom - such a lovely colour. Location on map is only very approximate, mainly to show where Trochu is. www.town.trochu.ab.ca/trochu-arboretum-gardens/

Is this a Chrysanthemum? Shows how little I know about garden flowers : ( Thanks, imtoootall, for correcting me on the name of the flower - yes, of course it's a Dahlia! I spend too much time around wildflowers, LOL!

I rather liked the soft, varying colours of this flower seen at the Greengate Garden Centres fairly recently.

I think this is a Dahlia or a "Mum", which shows how much I know about garden flowers! Whatever it is, I think it's beautiful.

I am NOT a gardener, but felt quite proud when this flower appeared - one year only - from a Dahlia root that I had planted. The Dahlia is the official flower of the city of Seattle.