3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
I tried stargazer dahlia's last year and was very pleased with the results. I did nothing special at all with regards to care or planting. I had one very beautiful cactus like flower with mauve petals with pink towards the center. I had another which was a single layer of flower that was yellow with pink around the edges. The only problem I had was with two which I put in the same pot with a few glads. The dahlia's didn't flower but produced big healthy tubers which I carefully excavated and saved. Some of my tubers went mouldy in storage but a few are good and one is sprouting already. For me the advantage of seed is that I don't have to spend a lot of money for tubers before I learn to store them over the winter.
I've repeatedly grown Bishops children from purchased seed and been extremely pleased with the results. It was pretty easy. I start them early indoors with some bottom heat (my previous house had a gas stove with pilot lights that was great for starting warm season plants - had to get a grow mat once I left there). I've also started them with the "damp paper towel in a baggie method" to sprout (again warm place) then planted. As in starting all seeds indoors, be sure to get sterile seed mix (or sterilize what you're using) so you don't get damping off. I like to start them early as they'll bloom sooner.
Ummm well, I don't think I would want to grow my dahlias inside. You may want to start them in pots under lights inside early....then transplant out to the garden. For me in zone two, I plant the clumps of tubers in the ground in May.......in your zone you could probably plant them right in the ground in April. Just watch that the ground isn't too wet. Unless you want to buy and plant new tubers each year.....then you would lift them out of your garden at the end of the season. This is done after your first frost and leaves are all brown/black. You would just cut off the stems 4 to 6 inches from the top of the tubers. Then just follow the directions that are on this forum for storing for the winter.
Happy gardening,
Sierra
I think what you really mean to say is that the bulbs cannot overwinter in the ground in your zone. They will grow beautifully for you, because they do for me. You just have to dig and clean off and store the tubers inside each winter. I put mine into plastic grocery bags and store them in my garage. As Sierra said, I sometimes start mine inside to get earlier blooms, but you probably won't even have to do that much! I agree with her, though, a dinnerplate dahlia inside probably isn't a very good idea.
That's a Phytosanitory Certificate & is necessary if you are going to ship out of the country. Your local agriculture agent has to inspect the field during growing season for diseases & insects specific to the country you are going to ship to. Then he has to inspect the tubers before you package them up & ship them. Every over-seas order has to have it's own phyto-cert. The certificates cost around $38.00 each- plus you also have to pay for the field inspections & tests. You have to do this every year.
Mick, of course they can be started in pots. That is what I was saying in another discussion. ( See below ) What Vikingcraftsman says is correct as well. If the pot is large, or a raised bed then that is good for growing them as well. Leaving them enough room, as Gladzoe says, is good advice as well. I plant mine about a foot and a half away from each other for the best results. That is purely a personal taste though. You will have to experiment and find out what works best for you in Brantford, given your soil and sun conditions.
Here is a link that might be useful: splitting tubers and starting in pots
You usally get the small border type dahlias when you buy seeds. The fully double, quality dahlias are from tubers - after many years of trials to get good ones. Dahlias aren't true to type when grown from seed- if you take seeds from a nice double dahlia you won't get the same dahlia from it's seeds the next year.
Yes, if you plant the seeds they will grow & bloom the same year & grow tubers that you can harvest & share the next year.
You didn't say what size dahlias you want but if you want the tall plants with larger flowers swallowtail seeds is a good place to go. They offer two different packets of seeds. One of cactus style flowers with plants that grow 4 to 5 feet tall and decorative style flowers that grow 3 to 4 feet tall. I've tried both a loved them. They were all different and you didn't know what they would look like. They all bloomed first year. They will bloom a little later than tubers (about three to four weeks). I guess because they have to develope their tubers. Therefore I started them early inside. It's a lot cheaper with seeds than buying tubers.
If you start them early inside you might what to get tall thin stakes for each one because they may have weak stems and fall over causing crooked stems. Also when first planted outside the wind broke many of the stems off of mine. After the've been in the sun for about three weeks and the stems strengthen you can remove them. Remember that they will need staking again when they start approaching three feet tall.
You can get anything but hopefully you will get a large dahlia. I started seeds from Gladiator AA-ID-R in 2007 and got a couple large ones but they didn't have enough petals and they were large open centered dahlias not worth keeping. The only good one I kept from these six seeds was a B sized variegated that was pink and purple.
Growing seedlings is like Christmas, you don't know what you have until it blooms and that is what makes it so interesting.
Wynne's Dahlias has been taking orders for a couple of months & still has lots of great ones for you to order- plus they always give a nice freebee -- or lots of nice freebees if your order is big- usually at least one for every order & anything over $25 gets you an extra one for each $25. I've ordered from them for years & never been disappointed.
Here is a link that might be useful: picture albums
Viking! I purchased them as tubers....Yes please post lots more picture...maybe it's the weather, but I sure love looking at those beautiful flowers. I just ordered a bunch from Connells and Swan and I keep hoping you will post pictures of varieties that I have purchased (it's always nice to hear how they did in someone elses garden)
Jan
