3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
hey all,
I am just starting to look at dahlias, and I can't find pictures of some that are on the tolerant list. If anybody has pics they can post it would be great. Or if these are typo'd or known by other names. Thanks!
CG Arctic
Kenora Firefighter
Pink Pet
Pompons
SB'S Sunny
Stephnie
Bo Bay
Hi Mairenn, CG Nordic (the correct name) can be seen at Corralitos Gardens catalog at Dahlias.net Bobay can be seen on the originations page at the DS of GA site. The only way to get a tuber of it is to come to the DS of GA tuber sales in April & May. It is a wonderful flower and very easy to grow.
Pompon is a form of dahlias but a couple that do well in the South are Willo Borealis P, Lav and Lismore Moonlight P, Yel Yellow Baby does OK but not for show and Little Snowdrop P, W. You can see these except for Little Snowdrop at Accent Dahlias on the Big List at dahlias.net Valda P, PR does fine also but is very hard to find. Clacks Dahlias offered it this year and you can see a not so good picture of it on their site.
I will try and post some pictures if I can figure out how to do it. I have pictures of the others except maybe for Stephnie, which is a wonderful ball dahlia. Kenora Firefighter is a bright red with lots of blooms and really grew well in my garden last year as did SB's Sunny and Pink Pet.
Here is a link that might be useful: Colorado Dahlia Society
Yes, unwrap them for sure before or just after bringing them into a warmer environment. I learned the hard way last year. You can safely keep them in either peat or vermiculite or start some early in potting mix, until it's time to plant outdoors.
I bet you will find some already springing to life in their little plastic cocoons.
Thanks Poochella. I thought I recalled a post from last year in which someone told of an unfortunate experience when they warmed up wrapped tubers. Some our wrapped ones are beginning to show eyes, but not as much as those we stored in peat moss. The survival rate was much higher in wrap than in peat moss, which seemed to dry the tubers out even in our damp environment. We've only really been growing dahlias seriously (?) for one season, but were lucky enough to have a photo of our garden win a third place in Swan Island's annual photo contest and be published in their catalog. So now we're hooked, of course!
I'll plan to unwrap the tubers and put them in another medium before bringing them in to warm up.
Hi Jim: Everything I have ever read and the times I have tried to grow them, hollow cuttings will not produce roots and to throw them away. That will happen sometimes with the first cuttings off a tuber or as I do sometimes in the fall take cuttings from some garden plants to winter over and if you get a stem too long it will be hollow. So I would just go with the follow on cuttings and toss the hollow ones.
Cuttings placed into soil without roots have a very poor chance of living long enough to make roots. When I first started doing cuttings I would have a 50-60% failure rate which was discouraging. I started putting them into jars of wet sand for 36-48 hours and then in soil and that helped but still not a high enough success rate. Finally, I learned about the Oasis Wedge System (not Oasis Cubes)which has about a 90-99% success rate and I use it every year. I don't even use a rooting hormone as they root so well in the wedges. Cowlitz Dahlias has wedges for sale or you can google and find other suppliers.
Sorry for the bad news.
Here is a link that might be useful: Cowlitz Dahlias
Hi, I am on Vashon Island so probably about the same zone as you, 8b. I have been leaving my dahlias in the ground over winter for 7 year now, with none lost from freezing. I do put a straw mulch over them when the temp is dropping below 25 but just dug up some that I had left in an old garden and not mulched this winter and they were fine. My soil does drain well, however. I loose a lot more if I dig them up!
Ashli, unless you are planning on planting dwarf and miniature dahlias that can be used as ground cover I don´t think that dahlias are a good companion for roses, they can get quite large and tall ( like that 10 ft tall 3 feet wide monster that grows every summer in my garden ) shading everything and anything around it, miniatures and dwarfs don´t grow that tall and wide. But still they are beautiful enough to be considered.
There's more pictures & info on cutting up on the Colorado dahlia Society site starting on the page below.
Good luck!!
Here is a link that might be useful: Colorado Dahlia Society
That's strange, Flowerfarmer- our Ag. agent told us if we grew Glads on our farm anywhere, we couldn't get the phytosanitory certificates to ship all over the world because they couldn't certify that there weren't thrips present. So.. we don't grow glads & we do get certified every year.
You most certainly can rinse the dahlia tubers and let them dry naturally. It will not harm them, just make sure they are dry when you put them away to avoid mould and fungus problems. No space heaters are necessary or recommended. Some people like to dust the tubers with a fungicide.
Gladioli should not be planted near sweet peas, either; thrips and aphis being the main troubles!
Cats39- I forgot to tell you to look at our "Dahlia Shows" album to see how dahlias are displayed in an ADS show. There's seven pages of entries from various shows around the Pacific NW. The pictures should give you a lot of hints as to what the judges are looking for in a show dahlia. If you click on an individual picture it will come up bigger & you can get a really close look at it.
Hi Huey_ga,
I've been taking particular notice of your posts/advice since I'm in the Atlanta area too. So now I have a couple of questions for you (or anyone else who'd like to answer). This will be my 2nd yr trying to grow dahlias (1st season was marginally successful but I learned a lot). I used containers last year but thinking of using a raised plant bed. Before I construct the bed, any suggestions? In particular, will it be alright to put in area with mostly mid-late afternoon sun? Also, I'd like to maybe start tubers early (as others have described in the forum) so could I go ahead and start now?
Advice is always appreciated!
I would imagine in the Atlanta area, such sun as received in the late afternoon would be to the dahlia's liking...seeing as how in more southern zones, you are expressly suggested to shade plants subjected to such hot sun.
As long as the plant does receive ample sun....and I leave to your thinking...the dahlia might do very well.
They do love the sun though....so you cant expect them to bloom profusely if they are not given sufficient sun...albeit hot.
I would think the same applies to any location in the southern climes....early morning....or east exposure, late afternoon..sothern or western exposure.
Then again, a northern exposure might be ideal all day long.
Thanks for the response. :) I would love to have more plants, but unfortunately I already have too many bulbs and tubers and not enough garden space! I was thinking about potting up some of these extra sprouting tubers and bulbs and selling them at my spring cleaning garage sale because I have so many extra.. I hate to throw away a perfectly good growing little plant.
I would suggest you keep two or three shoots on the plant until they are 6-8" out of the ground after they are planted. This is make sure you have growing stalks in case of a cut worm or other insect or conditions cause a loss of one or more of the stalks. They would come back if you only have one but it will need to grow from the original eye again which will take a couple of weeks at least. After they are growing well you can pinch off the extra ones at ground level and they won't continue to grow. Ultimatly you want to grow only one stalk out of the ground