3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Well I sent the cat but it went off in cyber world somewhere. I will try again. Maybe he wasn't approved or something. At least this made it. I am looking at my dahlia covers at the moment. My friend called and said she went ouot to the garden to pick some and they were frozen like live dahlias. She is going to let them thaw???
Oooh...I definitely cannot handle your temps! I have never shoveled snow, and the last time I saw a blizzard, I got pneumonia after getting locked out of my aunt's house for three hours! It's worth considering though, since the dahlias do so well there! Here is my "bouquet" for the week...A single bloom does not a bouquet make, but it's all I have! And sadly, the weather's perfect for Dahlias right now - warm days, cool nights. Hoping that some of the survivors will bloom again before Thanksgiving.
How embarrasing. I don't even know the name.
Quebec has the dahlia Queen! Gorgeous! What are the white ones with the lacinated lavender tips? Those two yellow ones behind on the left hand vase in the last picture are nice too. But picture #3 really needs to be identified--it is very unique and beautiful. Good job, Queen Anna!
Thanks so much! I have difficulty arranging flowers - I hate to have any hidden in the back etc, so sometimes I simply resort to having several vases. Also, some dahlias have such tiny stems (but a big bloom) that they need special accommodation. The white and lavender is Angela Dodi - it had come as an unwanted substitution, but now I am happy to have it. The orange/yellow are Ace Summer Sunset, while the large picture in the middle is Caribbean Fantasy, with collarette Fantastico on the left. So many buds are left on the plants, and killing frost is coming this weekend :(
Well, let's not confuse "root base" with tubers. The plant had tons of roots, which extended way beyond the 4" pots perimeter. Those roots are what sustained the plant, and IÂm going to struggle to keep this bush growing after cutting them. We took a knife to the sides of the 4" pot and simply cutÂalready the bush is wilting inside because of the root trauma.
Tubers are the storage of "excess" for next year. We canÂt totally judge whatÂs happened until we see the growth from these tubers next year. I can say that right now, the tubers look great, definitely viable. But!! I havenÂt cut the stalk off the plant (and will not, for this one.) So I have no idea about eyes. After all, a clump is nothing without eyes, right? When I say itÂs definitely viable I mean thereÂs nothing visible that suggests it wouldnÂt eye up.
I re-potted the clump into an 8" pot and put that pot into a dish. I have replenished the water twice already, yet the bush is still wilting. No surprise, really, as IÂve likely removed 80% of its water roots. I will keep trying to revive it. It is not under any lights at this point.
The bush doesnÂt like to sit flat, it wants to fall over. Tomorrow I plan on pruning it somewhat, like an arborist might a treeÂtrying to achieve a balance.
Cheers,
Russ
I don't know if this information will help you or not. I live on the CA Central Coast. I leave my tubers in the ground all year long. They are still blooming quite heavily right now and will through December. I cut them to the ground when we have a light frost or they start dying back. We have all of our rain from Dec. to April. They seem to do fine in the ground and don't rot. They come up again around March. I let Nature take over and they do their own thing. I think they are hardier then people give them credit and can put up with a lot of conditions. I have been growing them for over 30 years here that way.
monica33flowers, I will try and tell you the names of the Dahlias in this bouquet. First they all came from Swan Island so you can go to their site and look them up. The tallest one in the vase is Vassio Meggos. The one to the right in the first photo is bold accent. There are four of them in the bouquet. There is one cloudburst in the vase. And a couple of touch of class. I hope that helps you.
Wow! I really enjoy looking at your pictures, especially since all my plants FROZE this weekend as we had a really early snowstorm that dumped 5 inches of snow all over my plants! I especially love the last picture, and BTW I like the dog in your other post.
Bishops Children are open centered dahlias from the dahlia Bishop of Llandaff. No dahlias come back true to the parents from seed so you are likely to get a mixture of colors if you try to keep seed. The blooms from the tubers you get from your Bishop's Children will have the same color as their parent. These open centered dahlias are the easiest to get seed from & if you're not fussy & looking for good show quality dahlias they can be fun to experiment with.
As for keeping them growing over the winter- they need a lot of light unless you just cut them back & store them in the container. They will get really leggy if you don't have lots of light. See other posts from the last few days on this forum about some people trying to grow them inside over the winter.
Joelsm,
This spring I sold a lot of cuttings I had taken from my tubers. I gave a set of instructions to each person that covered, first, what to do with the cuttings and then how to care and eventually store them. It pretty much covers a year in the life of a Dahlia enthusiast.
I will be revising it based on this year's experience, but not until I've lifted my pot tubers (which should be over the next month.)
So have a look at this link; Instructions: How to care for Dahlias from cuttings and then feel free to ask more specific questions.
To answer your question specifically:
Let the weather kill your Dahlia above ground. Once it has been frosted a few times, the plants will eventually turn black and collapse. Your tubers will be fine at this point. Cut the stalks 6" above the ground and remove the dead plants.
Leave the tubers in the ground for another week or two. Only lift them if there is a chance of many inches of snow, or a severe frost warning that would freeze the ground. Typically, you shouldn't have a problem leaving them the extra week unless you live in an extreme climate.
After the one or two weeks, lift the tubers. They will have formed "eyes," or the very beginnings of new sprouts. These form after the main stalk is cut. They are your guide to where to cut your tuber clumps to separate individual tubers. They're essential for cutting.
There's lots of ways to store them over winter. I use the "saran method" for individual tubers. See this past thread; Saving tubers? I thought there was a FAQ... for a discussion about various ways to store.
Cheers,
Russ
Why on earth would anyone want to plant dahlias that they knew would most likely show up as virused. They would infect all the rest of your dahlias. It's universally thought that chewing & sucking insects- of which we all have one or two-- spread virus. Wouldn't the rest of your dahlias then be at grave risk if you grew these Karma dahlias?
Ellie
Patty I am not sure with your flower. I have two different types of dahlias that do this all season. Candy cane and Ryan C. None of my other dahlias do this.
Well that's attrative! I wil lnnow have to counter with more cat pictures!
!