3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
I can not speak directly to your area. I live on an island out in the Atlantic Ocean so our weather is controled my the Ocean currents. I have had blooms from May till now. Some of my Dahlias started blooming the first week in September. The ones that bloomed in May were grown inside then moved out side in May. Sams club sold blooming Dahlias at the end of August as fall plants.
I would say that Swan's "late bloomer" means September-October...to them. Consider a planting date of mid to late May. If you can plant earlier, you can bloom earlier. If you start inside, you can bloom earlier again.
All my Dahlias this year were from Swan's. I have had blooms come as early as 73 days, and as late as 216 days. Consider 73 days an early bloomer, and 216 late.
I have mostly stayed away from late bloomers. This fall, however, I'm going to try and start the late bloomers much earlier than the early bloomers in the hopes of "normalizing" them (e.g. getting them to bloom closer to the same time.) This does mean starting tubers in early December for those late bloomers. If you're not up to that, then consider you'll have a lot of green in that spot until, hopefully, just before frost...and then maybe get a full flower (which is usually the 2nd or 3rd bloom) before the frost kills it...hardly worth the effort in my book.
Cheers,
Russ
Lovely photo PD. Yes, Alyrics is right. A flower frog will allow you to place the short stems in a shallow amount of water and then you won't have the problem of the flower petals going 'slimy' in a day or two. However, if your just looking for a quick centerpiece...you can always do the 'float' method ...
Jim, You can leave them in the ground until the ground freezes. A heavy frost or a few nights in the 20's won't hurt them usually as long as ground doesn't freeze. If you are concerned or delayed in getting them out of the ground just put some mulch over them but don't delay too long in your climate.
Here in the Atlanta area we can leave them in the ground all winter with about 6" of mulch over them as the ground never freezes. The temps usually get down to 12-15 degrees for the low for winter but one year got down to -8 below zero. I had left a few tubers in the ground that year and most of them didn't freeze. Some did though.
I talked with a man from central Ohio who didn't dig his tubers in the winter. He piled leaves about 2' deep over them and they didn't freeze.
Hi Jim
You could leave your tubers in the ground till a hard frost. Usually anywhere from October to Thanksgiving the above ground stems are brown and dying after a light frost or 2, then a hard frost. You should let the frost kill the tops off and cut to about 3-4". The eyes will show better if you've let the tubers ripen and harden off after the frost. That is if you want to cut the tubers up in the fall. Poochella has posted wonderful descriptions and photos in past yrs - just do a search. You can also wait till they start to sprout in spring to find the eyes.
If not you can employ my extremely difficult method - lift the tubers and put in brown paper bags and write the name and color. I don't clean them - I just store them. You can put a few handfuls of peat into the bag. Then I lay all the bags into a box and store in my garage up off the floor. My garage rarely freezes in the open air - so the box remains around 40-50 degrees. If its a cold winter I wrap it in bubble wrap or double box it. I lay in a wheelbarrow and pile tarps on top or something to insulate.
I've had good luck with this very low end technique last winter and didn't split my tubers last yr, so I may have to next yr.
Huey - whoever kept tubers in the ground in any part of OH must live in the city and have a super protected spot. Our ground freezes 6" deep or farther depending on the yr.
I've left tubers in the ground in here in Zone 5 - same latitude as Syracuse and they are mush as soon as the ground starts to freeze.
Poochella also gave me the tip of sprouting tubers in plastic bags in the early spring inside the house. I put a couple handfuls of potting soil, a tablespoon or 2 of water and lay the tuber in the open bag, I lay them out on plastic trays from the Dollar Store in a sunny warm window.
Wynne's Dahlias-- they're great!! Wonderful people who introduce dahlias. They grow about 7,000 plants & bring out new ones every year.
You can get to their albums by clicking on View our Picture Gallery - or get the price list or order form by clicking on either of them. They don't have their '09 list up yet but you can get an idea of what they sell by visiting the albums & the price list.
Ellie
Here is a link that might be useful: Picture Albums, etc.
It is not red like the Akita. I seem to have two plants of it. The tag is from Dutch Gardens and they have it listed as a Zanobia. The picture on their site doesn't look like the dahlia that grew at all. But, that is the name. Good Luck. I will post more pictures of it.
1. Heavy dew can cause the petals at the back of the bloom to do this- or if you've had rain the backs can be affected in this way esp. on bigger dahlias.
2. This is common when dahlia petals get wet & fall on the leaves. Keep the petals picked off the leaves as you dead-head.
Thanks Triple b it was hard walking the garden today. Things are starting to get woody. Depending on the weather tonight this might be the last bouquet from my garden this year. I am going to miss it. We had a great year. It will be better next year just because I will have way more to work with. Even if I only double what I have I will be looking at over two hundred plants. There is a good chance I will have four hundred plants.
You've got the growing and the uploading down pat! I agree with Viking: Bring the photos on- that is a beautiful sight.
The hardest time of year is seeing all those stems and buds go to waste, either with lack of sun, or frost, or both putting an end to their productivity. So I'll pull for eastcoast global warming for you.
You should have seen me last night. I was trying to drape fabric over the dahlias for frost cover. Some are 6 ft. high. I would get one side on and it would blow off. Gave up and started looking for protection covers. There is a Plant Protek that comes in various sizes. It comes shaped with a tie at the bottom. Of course we could make them, but I don't have the fabric or the sewing machine. The fabric is light enough that it will not break the stems.
Triple B - I'm in Canoe, outside Salmon Arm! We were in Vernon last night at Kello O's for my son's birthday. My email address is:
myrlet@telus.net
It's exciting to know someone on a forum is near. I'm usually on the Hosta forum. Tropic lover - I'm not sure how close they are planted. I'm not good at following rules or allowing enough room for anything. This small area for dahlias (shown in the series of pictures I've posted on this forum) is really temporary. We built these planter areas last year on a whim. Now we want to build, with the same materials, a much more extensive set of raised beds on the opposite side of the stairs that lead up to the seat.
I gave up vegetable gardening several years ago as I got more and more into the hostas and shade. This - future - area is the only place close to the house that has enough sun to grow cutting flowers and vegetables. We hope to work more on this next year.
If anyone wants to see more of the actual garden where I spend the majority of my time. Go to McTavish on the Hosta forum or look at "my page".
Thanks everyone. McTavish
McTavish,
FYI, in my experience with mini-ties (which is pretty extensive here on this property) they cause mushroom growth. If that's what you want, its great, but when they push through parking lot pavement, its a pain in the but.
I am gradually replacing all of my mini-ties with stone, and will do so until its all gone. Most of mine is now 8 years old.
Cheers,
Russ
Wow, that is beautiful! I have Dahlia envy. LOL
Again check out the Gallery. I am reposting my pictures there only all shots of one verity at a time. Better organization that way.