3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Vikingcraftsman, I am about ready to move to NY after seeing your fully grown plants in bloom already. I have topped off several budded plants, but only one is ready to even think about going on to bloom, and that will be 2-3 weeks away at least.
Congratulations on your lovely blooms. The pastel pinks are my favorites in your collection so far.
Boy for a moment I was going to ask where in New York you were moving to. My wife picks the dahlias, I do the growing . So this year we have mostly purple and lavender. We did get gitts perfection in the dinner plate collection. It is a delicate pink which blends to white in the center. We also got kasuga which is a light apple blossom pink.
Liza, I think you'll love China Doll, particularly because of how many blooms it puts on...prolific doesn't do it justice.
Poochella, in fact I did hope that the granite mulch might prolong the season a little due to the heat, and/or promote better growth. I have my fingers crossed that it won't get too hot. I also didn't want stuff that would grow weeds, as has been my experience with organic mulches.
FYI, it is supposed to get black after a few rains.
Penerosa, there are certainly similarities, but...I don't really think it looks like a waterlily. I could be wrong, but I think yours is a Formal Decorative. China Doll is 4" diameter on a 18-24" bush, what size is yours?
Cheers,
Russ
Oh heck, how does one know the difference? :-) Must take some studying. Here's one that looks like mine...I have a feeling it's a wild goose chase though...
Here is a link that might be useful: Baron Jerry
At this point in the summer, it is very late to be planting dahlia tubers. I would find a nursery that has them in bloom already and plant them in your bed. Dahlias love the sun, so I am not sure about afternoon sun. I would see how they do, and if they do well, plan on getting dahlia tubers in the ground around mid April next Spring
Dahlias probably can't be over-wintered in your area. If you get frost in the ground, you shouldn't leave them in over the winter.
Of the 43 varieties I grew this year, they took between 8 and 84 days to grow enough to get above ground. The average was 31 days. You wouldn't want them to be above ground while there was still frost in the air (this gives you and idea of when they can be planted in the spring.)
They should start blooming between 90 and 120 days after they're planted.
Each variety should describe whether its an early or late bloomer (or neither.)
They'll then bloom until frost kills the stem. Then can then be lifted, stored over winter, and the tubers planted out next spring. Alternatively, you can take cuttings in the spring...see my propagating dahlias photo set:
Cheers,
Russ
I started some Unwin's from seed this year. I hope I have good luck with them. They are about 6-8 inches tall right now and will probably get planted out in the next week while I am on break from work. I have a spot that gets good AM sun and light shade in the afternoon and evening.
One disappointing discovery: the blooms don't last very long. The first two may have lasted a week or close to it, but the more recent seemed to be blown apart by wind yesterday after a few days. Will decide about keeping after the rest nine bloom to see coloring and durability.
The plant will continue to grow & get to the usual height. We've had such a miserable wet, cold spring that everything is slower to gain it's growth. Now that the warm weather has hit hopefully we'll get some real growth going on. You can pinch out the center bud to make the laterals grow from the next leaf joint. Give it a well rounded fertilizer-- we use 10-20-20 when planting & they're just starting to get their feeder roots down to it now.
Russ,
You have an email regarding:
If there is any left that someone is looking to get rid of in and around Toronto and the GTA, I'll be more than happy to take them off ya.
They will be going to a good home, those that have seen my pics, know I look after my plants.