On one of my many walks on the Apple Capital Loop Trail, I came across an amazing patch of flowers. On a corner of land, next to an indoor market(1), a garden of only one kind of flower had been planted. They were dahlias. I happened to have my iPhone with me, so I climbed in amongst (2)the tall plants, and tried to find the perfect angles for the photos. So what is so special about dahlias? Their variety and sizes are quite incredible. There are 42 species, and many hybrids, so the colors, shapes, and sizes vary tremendously(3). I grew just a few this year for the first time. One was a huge, yellow dahlia called a 'dinner plate'. You can imagine how big the flower head is! The dahlia also has an interesting history. It is the national flower of Mexico, and used to be grown by the Aztecs for its tubers (which are like bulbs) which they would eat. One of the dahlias I photographed was a red and cream stripy flower with a very large head. I played around with the photo for this blog, and actually decided that it looks better in black and white because the petals have so much texture. See what you think.

Check out my Facebook page for more dahlias!

1. 'Indoor/ outdoor' is quite obvious in meaning, but let's practice some examples:

a. We have indoor markets all winter because it is too cold outside.

b. They have an indoor swimming pool. How lucky!

c. There will be an outdoor theatre all summer long.

d. They live in Arizona where it is nearly always dry. They have an outdoor pizza oven.

2. 'Amongst/ among' are interchangeable. Note, however that in the US people don't really use 'amongst' as it sounds out of date.

a. Divide the chocolate among you three.

b. In this group, you are always among friends.

3. 'Tremendously' is a powerful adverb that is similar in sense to 'enormously'.

a. She is a tremendously talented mathematician.

b. He is tremendously helpful.

c. The personalities in my classroom vary tremendously.