3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Thanks so much for your response! :) That helps a lot. So I guess I'm gonna be cutting off quite a bit off the top. I have 2 more but they aren't nearly as tall, but they probably need to be topped also.
And they do have quite a bit more shade than I intended for them to have. The flowerbed they're in is a new one and I thought there was at least 7 hours of sun but it's more like 4-5 hours.
4-5 hours of sun is pretty minimal for Dahlias. They will probably still bloom, but you won't get a lot of blooms and the plants will definitely be taller than usual. It is early enough that it might be worth moving them to a sunnier spot if you have one. I grow mine in 6-7 hours of sun, and wish I had 8-10 hours.
Mine are planted in similar conditions - only about 6 hours of sun - you will end up with taller than normal plants, and less flowers, than optimum, but they will still be nice - just be prepared to stake them well.
Mine often look a bit wilty during the heat of the day, but bounce back - don't screen them more - 6 hours of sun is minimal.
I started mine indoors as well but for the last month they have been outside on our screened porch getting morning sun for about 2-3 hours; then I moved them out and put them onto a chaise lounge where they got 4-5 hours and I just am transplanting them now--did 5 last week and they are doing great so far. I agree it sounds like maybe yours needed some hardening off outside first before planting in direct sun, 6 hours is pretty warm if they were only getting filtered sun through windows etc.
This is my first year too so I expect a few mistakes, good luck! Thankfully Dahlias seem pretty hardy actually--less fussy than some plants!
Great to hear !
I got 2 bare-root astilbes and put them in the same container on different sides of the container. One came up first. It was growing so nice and bushy that I thought the other must have died off. However, within the last week or so, it is also growing something now. So the lesson learned is that a gardener still needs to be patient to see the efforts pay off.
symi77, that's a great-looking flower! :)
gardenper, you're definitely right. Both of the tubers are now showing quite a lot of growth. (I can already tell that I should have planted them further apart, but there's that whole limited space thing. What can ya' do?)
Hopefully, Mamabear86 will check in and let us know how hers are progressing, too.
Use sturdy metal stakes. It's not pleasant to use flimsy stakes and then worry about fallen plants after a storm, or simply because of the weight of the flowers. Also, make sure to put the stakes in before you plant, not only after they need staking- this ensures you don't stab through any tubers.
I highly recommend American Meadows for dahlias, BTW. Their selection is a little low no, at the end of the planting season, but they've got a ton of varieties during the spring.
Here is a link that might be useful: American Meadows Dahlias
This post was edited by cagoldbear on Thu, May 29, 14 at 10:56
I grow border dahlias from seed, but even they get to 18-24" tall. The tubers that the small ones produce are pretty tiny, which makes them more difficult to store over the winter, as they dry out easily. The first year I grew them, I did try to store the tubers, and got maybe 50% to survive? For me it is just as easy to re grow them from seed every spring. (actually I start them in Feb)
Dahlias aren't like tulips & daffs that require a "rest" in a cold or cool place. We have customers in South Africa & in California & Texas that leave them in the ground until spring, dig them up, divide them & replant them immediately. They have better luck "storing" them in the ground that way than digging them up & trying to keep them over the winter.
Over in Houston, I've invested heavily my first year planting the tubers. I'm attaching a photo that I took a couple of weeks ago of a sprout that was after about 6 weeks. I planted mid-late april. I plan to keep them in the ground the whole winter and see how that goes.
I planted a couple that might not work so well with the color scheme, but I'm going for it this year. I've got Kogana Fubuki, Tahiti Sunrise and a pastel mix of gladiolus and Oriental Lily Girosa in the front, and "Crazy Love," a Blue Moon mix of gladiolus and the Golden Lily of Japan for the back. We'll see, I may have planted them too late for our southern heat, but we'll see!!
Thanks for the reminder on the State tuber sale. The sale started at 7.30, and by the time I got there at 9.30, most of the stuff was gone! The lesson for next year is to take the WI dahlia society membership, as the members-only sale happens the week before. It was a great deal to buy plants that were already a foot long for $4.00. I got about 12 new plants. I turned on the email; will send you the list.
So, after waiting for 5 more weeks , staring at that inert little dark shoot, it started sprouting, yey. I had kept it very dry so it wouldn't rot, watering very carefully, and now there are even roots visible.
It's Cherry drop, part of my first order from Swan Island. Weather got warm, so it will go outside soon.
Have a nice weekend, bye, Lin
wasn't this called the black dahlia ? anyhow, I don't know why you had to order them from the u.k. as thom/choca-mocha is widely available here in the usa with. british postage being much higher than our own!
I used the format for the name, as they are one and the same plant, so your 'seedlings' are actually all vegetative propagations of one original plant, rather easily & quickly propagated from cuttings that easily take root.
. I actually prefer the old original 'chocolate cosmos'.as
it was one of a survivor from Kew gardens for many years & self sterile . although it does actually produce tuberous roots, whereas the newer cultivar doesn't seem to, although maybe much more quick to reproduce & make rooted cuttings at a much faster pace, lending itself to rapid culture & sales.
I have both, this year, in hopes to make a few seeds, if its even possible. But to me it's worth a try...
It really isn't extinct in the wild from what i understand, at least the locality is being kept quiet, so as to prevent it from being extirpated from the wild due to theft. of possibly the entire population.
plants aren't legally taken from the wilds of Mexico & the law has been that way, for many years...
By now, I suppose yours have either grown or rotted. Here , its readily available, unless sold out for the year already.
I much prefer the old 'chocolate cosmos' that survived in Kew gardens in the U.K. as it does produce the tubers and the new form has stringy roots. It didn't want to go dormant last winter & then simply died. So it's more like an annual.
Good luck, as the ones sold potted here, at least by mail order are already in growth.
Very few dahlia enthusiasts grow Imperialis. It is very tall and can reach 20 feet. It is very late blooming and in most of the USA it will not bloom or will do so just minutes before a killing frost. It is a different species of dahlia and will not cross with our dahlia variablis. The tubers of Imperialis can be 3 feet long and unlike variablis, it can be grown easily from an inter node on the stem instead of a tuber.