Charlie, these days I try and plant mostly stuff that I don't have to deadhead a lot. I like geraniums but find that they don't do well here with our cool nights, I haven't tried dahlias, I do like them.
We had quite a bit of rain last night, this morning it's 8C/46F, gray with a chance of thunder showers.
No mosquitoes yet, but yesterday I got bitten by a black fly, I hate hate those nasty pests,
I get a reaction to their bites, big ugly red spots, like a bruise, swelling and it itches like crazy.