3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
No apology necessary- always glad to help get the names straight. That being said- the Peaches & Cream debate has gone on since 1993 when Peaches-n-Cream was introduced by Blue DG. There already was a Peaches & Cream introduced in 1991 by Madeline Geisert & the confusion began. Sometimes the "&" was put instead of the "N" & sometimes it was written "and" -- no one can keep them straight esp. if they don't have a classification book to look them up in. The "&" one is a waterlily - yellow & pink. The "n" one is a formal dec. light blend of white & orange. Sounds like you have the "n" one. To further confuse the issue, there isn't one with "and" in the name but it gets written that way a lot.
Hope everyone is so thoroughly confused by now that they just look at the pictures & wish for summer >:)
Varied Thrushes they are- just couldn't think of the name. I like the way they wear a black scarf around their necks- however they're very bossy birds - push the Chickadees & Junkos around all the time but they met their match in the Quail- he just ignores them or chases them back!
Lots of King Salmon still.
I like all dahlia colors. Never used to want red (mostly to keep down the numbers of flowers in my beds) now I have all kinds of reds and just ordered more LOL.
Way back when I started out with Chimacum Topaz and a very miniature orange dahlia, then realizing there were thousands more shapes colors and sizes to choose from, I stuck with oranges, bronzes, yellows to "match" what I had growing. Then came the purples, lavenders, whites, pinks, later the reds LOL..... you know how it goes!
I'm sure Susan Ambrose has forgiven you. A college friend had me over to their newly bought home. We toured from room to room while she lamented about the former owner's hideous color schemes in various rooms and the work involved in redecorating. The kitchen was behind a swinging door so when it opened, we were assualted by the most hideous smothering blue. Of course, I empathized with just how hideous the kitchen was..... only to have her tell me "I know. This didn't turn out like we had hoped!" LOL My bad.
Well, just a "catch-up" for anyone who might benefit.... I had a much better dahlia year this year. Hardly any signs of spider mites at all - yea! My tubers had wintered over well enough but in the spring when I planted them I used a systemic insecticide/fertilizer made by Bayer called '2 in 1 Rose & Flower Care'. Has anyone used it? Every few weeks I hit them again, soil-wise, with it. Of course as might be expected, I got a whole lot of foliage, but I did get some real beautiful blooms too. (No success with any reds though!) So, I don't know, maybe that's the secret to solving my problem. I've looked for other systemics such as this one by Bayer, but haven't found any. Is this the only manufacturer of such a systemic insecticide? Anyone know?
AVID is an excellent systemstic to use on spider mites. It is very expensive $90 or so a pint, but it works and it only takes a very small amount. A pint will last a lifetime or at least 10 years. I mix it in my spray each time I spray my dahlias. It can be purchased at Southern AG located in Hendersonville, NC and in Florida.
Here is a link that might be useful: Southern ag
You might want to check out Cyndi's list of sources. She does note which companies ship out of the U.S.
Here is a link that might be useful: Cyndi's list of garden catalogs
Sorry- the one on the left isn't Pretty in Pink. P in P -- one of our introductions-- is a hot pink BB sized semi-cactus. Yours looks more like April Dawn. You can see a picture of the real Pretty in Pink in our "Dahlias varieties from all Over" album at this site- page 4 in the album.
Here is a link that might be useful: Dahlia Albums
I'm getting Spring fever! Those are all gorgeous. Lavender Perfection appears to live up to its name. And the color on your seven footer is very unique. Would you have a closer up shot of that flower to post?
The pale peach is beautiful. I was going to guess "Beverly F" but only because I've got that on my possible purchase list. Don't think that's it though.
All striking, Jim. I am getting into the dark reds and purples this year. Have any of those to post besides the lovely Garden Wonder?
We got hit again, too. It snowed 6" in the 1/2 hour I was in Lynden today - I headed home. So far 14" on the table on the deck. Now there's supposed to be a northeaster that will blow for a week & freeze us all solid. I think the weather has gotten the left coast confused with the right coast! Our friends in NY were in shorts & getting a tan last week- that's just NOT right!
I want spring & summer & DAHLIAS!!!
I went out to check my greenhouse where the tulips and amaryllis are growing under lights. THe door lock is frozen. GUess it is back to drool over Swan IsLands new catalog even if I do not have any room for more! One can always play "Which one would I eliminate for this beauty?" THat is, when My hands thaw enough to turn the pages..... MEanwhile I will just sit here and watch the snow being blown in clouds across the blue winter sky....
You're welcome 3 kitty. I just want to add that it pays to heed the advice of storing the No Blots in a ziploc with a dessicant pellet, pouch, whatever. They really do help absorb stray moisture.
Also, the Veritas pencil at the link I gave you is very hard and I found that it rips through delicate tuber skins way too easily. No Blots are the way to go for damp tubers. Sharpies for dry ones.
I went to Michael's and bought a box of about 300 popsicle sticks and stuck those in with the tubers (laid mine in the roots so I can just pull 'em back out when I take them out of the box). I wrote the color mostly since mine are all the same kind. I also put a # for the order they were in since I just had one row. I figured that way I can remember which ones did best and which were where since my magenta was the biggest and it was in the first spot by the porch, etc. on down the walkway to the driveway.
Well thank you all. I have been busy since last posting fighting off power outages,winds, unending rains, fussing over the tubers in freezing weather with no power to fire up the space heater if needed... but they did well!
I really like that Kari Dancer LOL.
A new dahlia convert is a good thing, Jannabean. I only wish I'd have discovered these plants about 20 years ago. They are simply the best! So many colors, shapes, and sizes and long bloom time. You do have to be patient and take a little care with them, but basically they are the best bang for the effort in my garden, by far.
Calpat, sometimes I use the macro feature, most times not. I can't see well enough to make a difference: the camera does the work. Sad but true. good thing there are cameras that can see better than me!
Cameragirl, (I bet YOU can see!) These are just a teeny percentile, a smidgeon, of what dahlias are out there waiting to be grown. I cannot tell you the best supplier, there are too many good ones around. I would read around the web; the "Garden Watchdog" is a great resource for gardeners as a guideline for others' experience with various vendors, but certainly not complete.
There was word put out 'to watch out for dahlia sellers in the Northwest (USA)' this year because of the recent flooding of November which took out plenty of acres of dahlia tubers. I just want to emphasize that this affected a FEW growers located in very close proximity to river flood plains, not all NW Growers by any means.
If in doubt, ask before you order. Any honest grower will be happy to tell a prospective customer the truth.
Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Watchdog
Pyrgal, did you wash/dry those tubers well, and do some sort of antifungal dip or dusting before wrapping them? I wouldn't expect the Saran wrap method to work on untreated, dirty tubers. Too many critters get corralled in tight confines for a few months with the tubers, and heartbreak is sure to follow.
Another thing to stress is to remove as many roots, but particularly stems as possible- just wrap the single well-trimmed tubers. Stem material breaks down into mush very quickly and that promotes rot. At least it has for me in the past.
If you don't take that one or two extra steps at tuber prep before plastic wrapping, I'd use vermiculite too. You just have to watch the moisture level a bit closer.
My wrapped tubers look exactly like the day I put them in storage: plump, firm, dusted in sulphur with eyes visible.
Our daughter-in-law grew them in Phoenix for years- in pots on the patio. The first year we were down there for Christmas & planted them while we were there. They grew 6" in a week! They were blooming by March & when the really hot weather hit she cut them back down but left them in the pots & kept watering. After awhile they put out another bunch of growth & they bloomed again until almost Christmas. They were more like a perennial in that I don't think she ever did dug them up again - just cut them back when they got too leggy or the weather was too hot- & stood back & they just GREW!
It's always better to order from a dahlia specialist- there are a lot of them out there & Wynne's is one of them. You get better service, a guarantee that the tubers will green up & grow & most of them throw in an extra or two for you to try. Remember-- you get what you pay for- the big companies that sell a lot of different stuff can't specialize & their stuff just isn't as good as the specialists- besides-- always be wary of a company that calls AA & A sized dahlias "Dinnerplates" --any company that still calls them "dinnerplates" just doesn't know dahlias.
I don't disagree with what the other posters have said. HOWEVER, many of the people who are not really in to dahlias and just grow a few (me a year or 2 ago), still call the big dahlias DINNERPLATES, so that may be why the Jung catalog continues to call them that, as well. I ordered from them and got nice dahlia tubers that grew well and bloomed their fool heads off last year. This year I will probably order from a dahlia supplier mostly because the selection at Jung is fairly limited, and I'm hoping that the tubers that I have from last year will winter over and I'll have all the varities that they offer that I was interested in.
Jung is a class act as far as mail-order nursery stock, in my experience. I've had a huge order with them almost every year for probably 15-20 years. Everything from fruit trees to strawberry plants to roses, dahlias, and other flowers. I've nearly always gotten superior quality stock from them, and the few times I was disappointed, they made it right with no hassle at all.