3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Jroot, every year you astound me with your early flowers from way up there in Canada. Kudos to you and your paper pot technology :) I have buds on quite a few but am still a way from blooms. A warm sunny week underway now will go far and I hope I have a couple as pretty as yours. What is that last peach colored one?
bklyn, I forgot about the dreaded kb limit in the gallery. Didn't used to have that restriction. You can always post them right here in a thread too.
Pd, ankle high would be very discouraging. We've had our share of years like your 2009 so far, but it should change for you as summer gets into swing.
Forsythia, Miss Rose Fletcher is available from several dahlia vendors on the Colorado Dahlia Society "Big List." Or you could check with a local Dahlia Society sale in your area next year to see if someone offers it there.
From the Big List:
MISS ROSE FLETCHER BettyÂs Amazing Dahlias
MISS ROSE FLETCHER Endless Summer Flowers
MISS ROSE FLETCHER Frey's Dahlias
MISS ROSE FLETCHER Homestead Dahlias
MISS ROSE FLETCHER Old House Gardens
MISS ROSE FLETCHER Red Hawk Dahlias
MISS ROSE FLETCHER Swan Island Dahlias
MISS ROSE FLETCHER The Dahlia Guy
Here is a link that might be useful: Big List
It's been awhile so I guess I forgot what it looks like before it blooms. I hadn't even thought of it being a weed!
Now I feel like a dork for watering it. I had no idea a random weed could grow that tall though!
I'm not a total gardening failure though. I have a giant potted jasmine all twined up a small trellis. And I've had that for I think 3 years now and it's blooming well so far.
No need to feel like a dork. Even the weed appreciates a little TLC once in a while! If you can grow a jasmine there is complete hope! Here is the foliage of what I think is your plant
A little further away with blossom beginning middle left of center against the horrible backdrop of phlox,spent geranium, crocosmia, a lone foxglove, and sweet woodruff run amok. Not a good photo, sorry. The little pink blooms go on to produce fluffy white tufts of seeds that float away to other portions of the garden if left unpulled, as I recall. The weed is the one with maroonish stem beginning at the bottom of the photo.
And another closer up of fresher foliage. Nice of me to include it inside the ribbed cage for the asters wasn't it? Even weeds need support:)
They have had two weeks of rain now. If I didn't have rot before, I bet I will now. I have never had a wetter Summer. I put in the veggie spikes today as I thought they might need some fertilizer with all this water. The slugs have been having a wonderful time. I will rest better when we have the lower leaves of the plants taken off. That will be quite awhile from now.
Hi Anna:
What you haven't mentioned is the size of the dahlias you are planting. If B and larger, I would only put one in a 14" pot. However, I do have an old galvanized washtub which I painted white and I plant three in there whithout a problem (B sizes I believe).
One thing they do suggest is mixing your potting soil about 50-50 with top soil. Holds more moisture and anchors the plants better.
Good luck,
Lucinda
The bunnies are so cute. I think I got grandpa (very big) and Ma and Pa and then all the children. If you cover the trap, they walk right in. Some are in a nice green cemetary and some are in a friend's yard as she wanted a little bunny. I do hopoe that is all. I haven't put any lettuce in lately but it didn't stop a dumb squirrel from going in. I just let him loose.
Thanks John and Plantlady!
The problem I had was I planted it temporarily and stakeless in one of those very rounded terra cotta pots for azaleas. Consequently, I wasn't able to get a stake in deep enough for my tastes to feel the tuber and stalk was very secure. But my little corset of ties worked and I've planted deeper as plantlady suggested. PHEW!
For potted plants that I intend to place in the garden, I like to use dark containers (or paint them black) so that they disappear behind the foliage of other plants and aren't so visible in the border. But I love the idea of using anything and everything as a plant container (although I've managed to kill a couple of things by forgetting to drill drainage holes!)
Well, based on all the data I gathered last year:
It took an average of 42 days to go from a newly planted tuber to being able to take the first decent cutting (e.g. the sprout had > 3 sets of leaves.) The minimum was 28 days, the longest was 87 days.
It took an average of 124 days to go from cutting to first bloom (flower actually open fully.) The minimum was 73 days, the longest was 181 days.
I didn't use any fertilizer, just water from the lake for watering (which is pretty high in nutrients.)
My suggestion, just based on what I've read, would be to disbranch and disbud liberally. This might put all of the plant's energies into fewer flowers, which might help it bloom sooner.
You might also want to consider planting them in containers you can bring in in the fall. If they haven't bloomed and frost is nearing, you could bring them inside and put them in front of those windows you use in the spring. It wouldn't surprise me if you could get them to bloom once inside.
Best of luck!
Cheers,
Russ
linnea56, you have nothing to lose by planting them. They will very likely come, and you will very probably have flowers before frost. Sturgeonguy has a good suggestions however, and it is something that I often do, in that planting in a large planter produces a nice result. If it does freeze, they are much easier to cover up, or bring in. While most of mine are in the ground, some of mine are in planters. I get to move them where I think there is a need for more colour.
Dahlias prefer a slightly acidic soil, so I wouldn't add any lime. I don't know how Earthboxes work, but you might consider adding water-holding polymers (i.e. Soilmoist) to the bottom few inches of soil where the roots will be. Containers need to be watered regularly.
Here is a link that might be useful: about soil and dahlias
I hate those twisty stalks. You don't say how tall that one is, but maybe you could plant most of the twisty part underground and allow the end (hopefully, straighter) to remain outside to grow. Easier to stake and easier on the eyes too.
If that doesn't appeal to you, you can grow it twisty and hope it can be supported as is, or break it off and wait for the regrowth that almost always occurs. IMHO.
Wynne's Dahlias in Washington state has gift certificates. They specialize in big ones but have some smaller ones, too. Or-- you can order tubers in spring & have them shipped to your sister-in-law. They're really nice folks & very knowledgable & helpful-- also have some of the best dahlias in the dahlia world! (I met them about --oh, 30 years ago or more through growing dahlias & they've become good friends-- that's the kind of people they are!!)
If you look on Dave's Garden Watchdog reviews you'll see good reviews-- I think you'd probably get good reviews on them from this forum, too.
Here is a link that might be useful: Wynne's Dahlias