3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Reasonably common, actually. I currently have an orange zinnia that has one bright pink blossom on it. The blossom is malformed, however, so the mutation is deleterious--just not nearly enough to kill the plant, the branch, or the flower. I'm idly waiting to see if it produces seeds. It probably will.
Plants have fewer problems with mutations than we do, so it's not at all surprising to find an altered branch, blossom, or petal. In many years of gardening with tons of flowers in 2,000 square feet, I've seen that happen...not often, but perhaps once a year on one plant.
Unusual combinations of genes from tight inbreeding are much more common and occasionally useful; my Salvia splendens is now more the height and color of cardinal flower.
If you like it, you can take a snippet from the branch and try to root it as its own plant.
If you hate it, chop off that particular branch down at the base and it probably won't re-occur. If it does, it probably won't come back next year. If it still does, it's a mutation in the tuber's stem cells and you're stuck with it.
>>you are on the verge of killing your plants with too much love ... be weary of such .....
Not even close. While using some fertilizers is unwise without a soil test, most are OK and there's no real danger of killing your plants.
Standard in the gardens for me is 18 pounds of Milorganite per month from May to August, plus a half-strength Miracle Gro feeding weekly through mid-September.
Deaths so far...well, the rabbits do nibble a few. But otherwise, zero.
I'm starting to limit phosphorus sources in the garden as my numbers are finally showing where they should be for flowers. Potassium is actually slipping a bit and will probably need specific enhancement next year.
Most micronutrients are in the correct range, except boron, which rides a little low. I'm working on that.
Nitrogen is the kicker, it gets used, absorbed, out-gassed to the air, and leached out. Which is why the heavy hitter is organic, to limit leaching.
Your water would be safe. Just as mine is, and has been every year.
>>if you change your potting media every season ... [and you better for all the salt build up] ... i cant believe you would need more that one or two fertilizings PER SEASON ...
The soil in my pots is now six years old and of better quality than it was when it went in...because I keep pouring organics into it. They sit in the rain, get flushed (by accident, mostly) when they're watered, and sit out all winter. No salt build up.
This is just starting to open, but the Blue Boy are doing beautifully. There are two flanking blossoms that will open later on, and a host coming up out of the parent plant.
The color here isn't true; this particular flower is almost a perfect violet, just a little less saturated. If all of them bloom this color and size, I'll be absolutely thrilled!
The second and third Blue Boy are in bloom and as nice as the first (which I trimmed and put into a bud vase, where it's gorgeous, but top-heavy!)
The equally cheap Sun Lady bloomed two days ago, highlighter yellow. No, seriously, I was up before sunrise this morning and wondered what was glowing in the garden in the very dim dawn light. It was the Sun Lady.
Two more Sun Ladies are opening.
The Color Spectacle is budding up and getting ready, it should bloom by Monday or Tuesday if the weather holds warm.
So again, late plant away as long as the tubers are healthy! They're a great late season surprise!
You gotta post picts of your green and blue dahlias for me, Morph! ;-)
It seems to me that I've received tubers with red ink, so I wouldn't think non-black would be an issue for longevity. As I have a rainbow selection of sharpies left over from my five year old's leg cast signing party, I think I might put them to good use for famous tuber autographs, too.
Ted's right about the low level of ink from the cheapie pens, though. Normally I rotate through three pens, keeping them point down, allowing them to 'rejuice' from hard use. It's even tougher on them if dirt gets on the felt.
I tried green flowers once--this year in fact, an Envy zinnia. Never again, the color is too muddy and not dominant enough for my gardens. So no green dahlia here, even if they exist!
I actually do have Blue Boy dahlia, but those are violet. Not that I'm complaining, I like violet. Particularly when fronted by a short orange marigold. :-)
In this case, I also have leftovers, so I'm content to kill them on the dahlias. Eventually I'll probably just get indelible pencils or something--I have enough use for things like that and they won't go to waste.
Very cool that you're testing what might work best for you, Highlander!
I'm in Northwestern PA, zone 6, and left several clumps to overwinter of plants that seemed virused, wondering if the cold might eliminate the symptoms. They were sprinkled in three different beds, with different areas of protection (one had a garage to shield the wind, another two were planted 14inches out from a foundation wall with an overhang, others were in the open) . All three beds have never been waterlogged even in the worst torrential downpour. A couple had mounds of mulch to protect them from the worst of the cold. Not one tuber in six different clumps made it.
It would be really nice if that was a reasonable option for me, but I would not risk my whole crop to the whim of the winter. Even in storage, I separate out a few tubers from each variety to store separately, playing the odds that at least some will survive to grow the next season.
For a couple of years a friend of mine did not dig her dahlias, and they all came up here in southern Ohio. So last winter I decided I would try the same. By January it became apparent that this would be an unusual winter. So during a break in the weather in early January, I went out and dug the dahlia tubers. This spring, I started them all in pots. My friend lost 90% of hers. So the lesson is: Dig if you want to be safe.
You can lift and store the tuber over the winter if you like the plant, BTW. The little guys are no different from the large dahlia and store very well. The tubers are smaller and there are fewer of them, though.
They'll bloom even better the second year.
I've been posting in a different thread. Oops!! Plus, I need to go add a new one! :)
Here is a link that might be useful: State of the garden
I agree. That first pic needs to be on a postcard or something. Toooo beautiful!!!
The purple one is called Sky Angel. It was the first to bloom and there are TONS of flowers on each plant. I got the tubers from Lowes, so 3 for $9.99. t I will say they should've been separated (or whatever the correct term for splitting them up) but I didn't know how to go about that, it being my first year.