3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias

I really like dahlias, yours are beautiful, especially all those peach colored ones. Dreaming of warmer days . . .

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

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.

WOWSER!!! Those are the most beautiful dahlias I have ever seen. Can you tell me where or who is the best dahlia suppliers? Thanks.

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

Spray w/ Lysol & get rid of the plastic. Store in vermiculite.

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.

I've never grown them so I can't guarantee this is right but I think they're sold as a border dahlia- about 12-18" tall- which is shorter than the Bishop & I think I've heard that the blooms are smaller- very prolific in the blooming dept. Of course the height & bushiness will depend on your own garden & cultivation methods, too.

A couple of mine grew to about 3 1/2 ft tall. I didn't know they would be that tall so I had not staked them. I'll remember to do that next year.