iam not making this up...

yes, but thought that was just the thrips.

I think you are on to something.

Last year I was going to post pix of my bi-color red/white. (Same as Duet but mine was European and had an exotic name)

I had 'something' eating ONLY the white tips (even AFTER cutting it) and leaving all the red! I've never seen anything like it because the white tips vary in depth but whatever was eating it would eat right to the red and then move on.

I suspected the white part was a delicacy for them but have no idea why or if true.

its interesting that others have experienced this situation..i have a beautiful white dinner plate plant that throws nice big blooms, that are damaged way more than others, some other colors dont seem to be affected at all, iam pretty sure it is caused by slugs and ear wigs, plus a few Japanese beetles..i realize now that i should have spaced my plants further apoart when i planted them, altho i thought they had plenty of room which they actually do, but spacing them further apart would have given better air circulation around the plants, and perhaps the ground around them might not stay as damp as it sometimes does, which iam sure is perfect for slugs..Thanks for posting your experiences, comments! Anyone else?

Yes, Indeedy! I quit growing the ones that had white tips a few years ago because I never got a whole flower. And I tried a very large white one with horrible results.I wonder if the white color is sweeter or more tender.

Now I have chickens and ducks in my dahlia garden and hope they will do a number on the ear wigs.

Wheww! Glad I wasn't the only one that had this happen to me. (I mean, er, I'm glad I'm not nuts or something - though that may STILL be true)

I don't have Jap. beets. and I pretty much eradicated my snails. Whatever was eating mine was probably coming through the air because I clipped my 'Duet' and put it in a can by my chair (across the yard) so I could admire it and several days later I noticed that the tips were receeding slowly. I doubt a snail could or would crawl up a can (though I wouldn't put it past them) and it could have been earwigs but I sense it was something flying because I never saw anything coming or going. Of course it could have been an earwig hiding in the leaves of the bud but I inspected it pretty closely and saw nothing.

I'm surmising also that perhaps the white is simply BLAND but colors have chemicals (?) that pests don't like. So they eat the delicacy part (albeit bland) and shy away from the colors. I also gave up on my white dinnerplate because in our heavy, wet fog, all white flowers (whether roses, dahlias, petunias, etc) look like crap about 2 days later. Colored flowers seem to be able to handle wet better but white flowers turn brownish at the first hint of wet.

DCR

i too am glad that iam not the only one that has had this problem, altho iam sorry that any of us have had this problem with white and or white/bicolored blooms on our dahlias, or other white flowers, the 2 white dinner plate dahlias that i have are fabulous plants growth wise with lots more blooms to come along..iam thinking of experimenting with some sort of very fine netting type material and enclosing a few of the buds in that and see what that does, for good or not..good going on the chicken and ducks, let us know how that works out! iam in southern New Hampshire by the way..about 35 miles N W of Boston..

After reading this I went out to check up on the white Dahlias that just opened for me. Look what I found! I think this guy is protecting them from the white Dahlia munchers.

That is one of the coolest dahlia photos I've seen!! What a creepy; but beautiful shot of that little critter. Thanks for sharing!!

AGREED!!!!!! Beautiful picture with a possible solution to the problem!!! What type of camera do you have to get such a clear close up shot??

Glad you like the pics - I thought it so appropriate for this thread. The spider has been there for 4 days now. He seems to have set up house. So far there isnt any damage to the two blooms that are open so he is doing his job.

The camera is an older (6-8yr.) Olympus. Its only 3.2 megapix, but has a 30X zoom. I have the camera set so that the pics are pretty dense, which allows me to crop in close and still have good quality images.

I love the little white flower spiders....so decorative!

The jury is in on the chickens and ducks...They are great for slugs and probably other insects, but I see no let up in the ear wigs. Having a really hard time with ear wigs this year.
I am also suspecting that there are birds who nip in for a snack of white flower petals. Some of the tips are gone on the tallest flowers with no ear wig feces apparent. I also have ants colonizing several dahlias with black aphids. Even though I have seen the poultry reach up to nip a flower I have never seen them do that to get the ant/aphid combos. There is a big ant colony in the woods between the garden and road that we have moved or burned out almost every year but they always come back and have a trail right across the garden to this area like a super highway!

The main damage the chickens do to the dahlias is scratching around the roots and moving the tags! I know now to wire the tags to bamboo posts up at eye level, and possibly bury another one with the tuber. The tubers I planted 6" deep for frost protection are now half exposed. I have no idea where the dirt has gone! The ducks are easier on the dahlias...they seem to spend more time on the grass paths between the rows, looking for slugs. Occasionally they will decide to snack on a plant before the plants are grown out of their reach, but if the emerging plants are tied to stakes when young it helps to anchor then against the snacker quack-ers and prevent breakage.

I have 4 laying hens and 4 ancona ducks (Terrific breed!) in a 60 by 100' garden. I hope next year to have a seperate fenced yard for the chickens, but the ducks stay in the garden.

pepbob2.........i am not always sure what bugs are doing it......but yes...my white dahlias are eaten on more than the other colors....

I havent been on the forun for a long time, and ive just reread all the responses which i had been reading all along, mind you, but ive really enjoyed reading them again. The White dahlia that was the favorite amongst every living noxious insect, slug etc is named "Snow Country". it has thrown some tremendous, large, pristine white blooms. I will grow it again just because of that, but will be more vigilant as it starts to bloom..thanks again!