3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias

Hi Ellie- Thanks!
viking- I don't think there's a even a slim chance that Walt would ever move to the other coast so we'll have to take our chances under the mountain. That bulge in Mt Baker'll just have to go the other way & hit E WA & leave us alone!

Thanks Ellie! I hope it doesn't sell out right away because I want that weird dude in my garden.

Do you lug the hot water out to the garden?

It isn't far to lug depending on which bed I'm working in. Again, gallon milk jugs save the day. Put a big towel over/around the jug and it stays quite hot for a long time. If I'm working in the lower yard, they go in the cart behind the tractor.

Well, you've got me stumped. Only thing I can think of is that they're not Dahlias. I've never heard of any that stopped blooming in August in your zone.

Also, you say you trimmed them back to within a foot of the ground. Did you notice hollow main stems when you did this? Stems on my 4+ footers are typically 1.5" in diameter or larger, and always hollow. Just another reason to think they aren't Dahlias.

Cheers,
Russ

They have hollow stems, and are 2 inches in diameter &
blooms are 7in. wide. The new growth comes from the ground.

Thanks for your trouble, I appreciate it, Happy gardening.
caroline

t

I knew you were going to ask Russ and I almost broke the plant trying to read the marker. I could not read it at this time, to many plants to close together. The first photo is of cornel. The second two are the same bloom at different angles. I wanted you to see how the flower bends back on the stem.

That bend is what PlantLady was praising the other day, a nice 45 degree posture is considered ideal. Looks like yours would be if the stem itself was stand up straight...;-] Bet the look nice in a vase.

They're not that dissimilar to my Raspberry Punch.

Raspberry Punch - BID: 7" diameter flower on a 60" bush.

Cheers,
Russ

Well, I just got back from making my entries. Honestly, the largest Dahlia there was a small B, mostly M's!! There was a very nice purple Pompon that was entered into 3 classes (open single, open triple, and pompon,) but if you ask me it was way too flat on the bottom. There was a Lemon Tart there in the open class, mine is in the Cactus and there's too was flat on the bottom (whereas mine is fully rounded.)

Between the pot I put the Gladiators in (~15" tall) and the Gladiators themselves (also ~15" tall) my triple entry towered over everything on the stand...;-]

That said, there was still 2.5hrs remaining for entries to be delivered, so the best may have arrived after me.

Sigh, now I have to wait until noon tomorrow to find out how I did...

I am so tempted to go back down at 7:30pm tonight to watch the stand close at 7:45pm and take pictures. Hmm, maybe I will...;-]

Cheers,
Russ

Well, I have to tell my funny story.

So I did go back down to the fair grounds last night, arriving right at 7:45pm which was entry closing time. I felt kinda silly going there with only camera in hand, kinda like a kid shaking his presents under the christmas tree trying to figure out what they were.

Not having been to one of these things before, I didn't know what to expect. I even wondered if I'd be allowed to photograph the stands...;-] Too many computer trade shows I guess.

Anyway, I looked at the entries and pressed the power button on my camera and...dud...nada...no power! I got so flustered that I simply left...without even taking a good look at the competition! Lol

I do know that the most competition is in the 3 bloom open class, which I thought was kinda surprising. I also noticed that there were a lot of the same variety in both the 3 bloom and 1 bloom categories, which made me feel good about entering two different varieties. That said, the names of the people making the entries are hidden, so the judges wouldn't know that I put two varieties in.

I was also surprised that they didn't want the variety name on the entries.

Finally, I definitely could've entered my Crichton Honey BA in the Pompon class...I really don't think they'd have known the difference.

Now patiently waiting for noon to arrive...;-]

Cheers,
Russ

nice flowers;less nice arrangement.

Oh no my I used the wrong material. I will try and do better.

I think Bodacious is dramatic and impressive, so that would be my vote for either the single or the triple arrangement. Love the colors on Victoria Ann; that would be good too. Your Citron du Cap looks perfect (to me) so that would get my vote of confidence as well. You're going to have to see what looks best to YOU and go for it!

Tahiti Sunrise is a good choice for the cactus slot, especially if you have lots of plants to get matching blooms. Lovely colors. Good luck, Russ.

Russ- Of the first batch-- Bodacious & Snowbound look like they have the best form & color with Bride to be & China Doll in runner-up position.

In the second batch your Victoria Ann has the best form & a really good bloom position. A 45 degree angle is preferred on all but the giants & ball dahlias- they can be top sitters & not lose points.
Papengo is an old variety that is a nice garden flower but doesn't win a lot at shows any more since it's quite flat.
If you have an Elijah Mason with a good center it's a possible as long as the varigation is uniform.
Just try to get fully double blooms that haven't blown their centers & stand up & look at the judges.
Good luck!

After seeing this, I've got to go to a show! Thanks for sharing your photos! Did you enter anything in the show?

Annabeth

Annabeth-- we entered a few. We won the Bob Simon Trophy for the best Bob Simon introduction in the show. He was our mentor & we learned a lot about hybridizing from him so we sponsored a trophy in his memory when he passed into that big dahlia garden in the sky. We've won it a lot - we still grow lots of his introductions because they're all AA or A sizes & we use them to create new dahlias. We also won lots of firsts & some Best of Types & Sections. We didn't enter many because I'm chair of Judges & Clerks for that show & it gets CRAZY the morning of the show & it's hard to enter & help people & answer questions, too. The very best part for us was seeing our daughter get her first ribbons in a show- she was soooo happy!
You can see us with our award & our daughter under the other posting I did a few days ago titled WCDS Show. Pictures.

I read this post entirely differently than you gentlemen. It sounds to me like donzi may be cutting a single stem/flower and hoping it will root. I don't know an answer, but basic propagation info and photos are found at the link.

See the links at "Decision Time".

Here is a link that might be useful: propagating dahlias

If what you say is true poochella and I think you may be all he would have to do is store the cuttings in a cup of water to transport.

The dahlia loses the color genes in part or all of the bloom. There's a big longwinded explaination for this but that's what it all boils down to. The bi-colors & varigateds all originated from a couple of solid ancesters somewhere back in time & they spend a lot of years trying to revert to their original colors. That's why we don't want to get any varigated or bi genes in our breeding stock- they're really unstable.

Thanks plantlady!

Cheers,
Russ

Taiheijo is the varigated one, Purple Taiheijo is the parent that it came from. Speckled Taiheijo is just another way to try to sell Taiheijo.
Russ- that can't be Snowbound. Snowbound is an ID- like yours. It's also not Iceberg-- that one's ID, too. The one bluelytes posted is a FD - & a nice FD at that- notice the smooth, round, broad petals then look at the wavy, almost semi-cactus petals on the other 2. It looks a lot like White Alvas or White Perfection.
bluelytes, what size is it?

Thanks plantlady, I've got a lot of learning still to do...;-]

Cheers,
Russ

If you were close and let me know you could have had the pick of my garden for your memorial PDShop. It would not have been the same thing, just two gardeners helping each other.

That was very kind of you Viking. The cemetary is in the Bronx! It is beautiful.