3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Thompson and Morgan, and Park's Seeds, both have several varieties of dahlia seeds. T & M has large cactus, double, and pompom varieties, and both carry dwarf varieties, collette, and dark foliage ones like Bishop's Children, Redskin, and Diablo. There is a thread on Stargazer dahlias from seed from Park's, but the photos no longer load.:-(
Anyone have good reports on specific dahlias they started from seed? I'm tempted to try 5 or 6 different ones.
Dahlias from seed may not resemble the parent exactly but will be a certain type and may be something entirely new and exciting. Also there are single species flowers that I imagine would come true to the parent since they have not been hybridized.
Dahlia coccinea var Palmeri. I got seed of this from Plant World in Devon - http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/
In my opinion they're more attractive than 'Bishop of Llandaff', with finely dissected, very dark foliage and lovely deep red flowers with a darker centre, rather than the yellow centre of 'Llandaff'.
'Bishop's Children' is a good seed mixture and widely available.
I grew a cactus-flowered mix as well (I can't remember where from, but again seed is widely available) which produced mixed results. Most of the plants had lovely flowers in a range of colours, but some had rather lax stems. You just have to wait and see, and keep the best ones.
I've also grown saved seed and got some attractive plants. It's definitely worth doing.
If you ever need to find a supplier for dahlias just go to the Colorado Dahlia Society site & look at the "Big List". The Colorado Dahlia Society site also has a list of suppliers complete with addresses, so that when you find someplace that has the one you want you can find out how to contact them.
Here is a link that might be useful: Colorado Dahlia Society Big List
White Alva's, Spike, Lula Patti, Kenora Clyde, Hy Mom -- all pure white. Ivory Palaces- while classed as yellow is more of an off white in the ivory color range & huge. Look in the Big List on the Colorado Dahlia Society site to find suppliers. Oh, yeah--- & PLEASE call them AA sized, not dinner plates >:)
As the winter goes on & the weather's depressing I'll try to get a few more pictures of our garden posted but right now it doesn't feel like anything to do with a glimpse of heaven- Yesterday I was on my 9th day of fall cleanup & carted 35 large wheelbarrow loads of trimmings, fir needles & leaves to the compost pile & I've still got 2 gardens to go-- oh, & all that useless lawn to rake up! & we don't even have many trees that drop leaves on us- just fir & cedar- where did all the leaves come from???
The husband is about 1/2 of the way through digging, dividing & storing the dahlias- 3,000 plants down & something over 3,000 to go!
Was the plant labeled dahlia. Dahlias grow in a sort of bush style and not a vine. If it is a dahlia, let it dry out, and there should be tubers in the soil. You can store the tubers in a cool place like a basement, just keep them from freezing. In spring, they can be taken out, watered and given light, and then fertilized and that is it.
Darlene
Ditto from this cut flower grower. At that time the tubers are just being started. THe soonest I ever have dahlias is maybe the last day of June for one started in a pot in March and an early bloomer. August is the time when they are most prevalent. MIght be easier to move the wedding date, LOL.
There you go, wedding saved! I would love to hear if that works out for you, Wareaglexs. I must be doing something wrong: I fret about the condition of delicate dahlia petals driving them loosely packed, upright in buckets for 10-25 miles. A quick online search doesn't turn up very many vendors who ship them. Swan Island does, and I'd be tempted to order some myself just to see how they arrive. Our florist drives to Canada to bring them by van upright in buckets, or gets them locally, fresh cut.
Please post and let us know how your dahlia search turns out.
Glad to hear that the Saran method worked for you Mingus Alex. It is a space saver for sure.
I read another interesting approach to blocking rain from rotting tuber clumps once the stalks are cut: squirt in some expandable foam that they use to fill gaps in housing construction around doors and window frames. Doesn't hurt the plants, fills the available space and prevents water from entering.
I am digging the clumps that survived our astronomical rainfall the past few days: they had no such protection, and only two have seemed bothered or slightly rotted. Those two were severe leaners who fell over several times during the growing season, and their stalks may have been weakened or cracked somehow. The clumps fell apart upon digging, which is odd here.
Lovely, pitimpinai. Did you dig the tubers and grow them again the next year? I left some in the ground and they didn't come back like my other dahlias, so they must be less hardy. I'm thinking of starting some from seed, but I don't know if they will bloom much the first year from seed.
Planting sites. lol.
Yes, I dug up the tubers. I did not save any seeds, because I planted them in a friend's yard and he deadheaded them all before I remembered to tell him not to.
This red one had a lot of blooms. I sowed the seeds this spring. Very easy to germinate. They came in different colors, though.
Hi Judy,
we have also the Tsuki Yori No Isha (I think that is the same dahlia) on our HP - Dahlien Bilder - Galerie betreten. But it is "white". But may be that Tsuki Yori (without no Isha) is another dahlia. Here in Germany it is named Tsuki Yori No Isha (????).
rgds Toennchen
Sharon, it is more like cutting off the bulk of a fat tuber so it is tempted to send out eye growth rather than sit and diddle around living off the tuber's stored energy before getting on with life. A couple of my Smokey tubers were over a pound I bet; huge 3 inch diameters. Just leave the eye/stem end and 1/3- 1/2 of the tuber bulk. Spray the cut, if you like, with Lysol or dip in a bleach soak. Let it dry and scab over, then plant as usual.
Smokey is indeed a tall monster, over 6 ft here too; always in the back row. I hope you get to see your other buds!
I had a Papageno but it always blew in the middle. It went to the disguard pile.My Pat Feary grew over 7 ft this year. It must have had hundreds of blooms over the season. My Aztec Gold was late blooming this year. You must order from Ferncliff too.
Regular dahlias overwinter OK for me, but one year I bought some Bishop's Children ones. They grew and bloomed well but none made it through the winter. I get the impression from the seed catalog that the dwarf varieties they sell seed for are less hardy? It might survive better dug and put in a pot or kept overwinter by one of the methods on this forum.
ah.., the posting that lives on forever. (2005)
Yup, 'Who Dun it" has made a buncha good tubers for me also. And every single cutting that I took in the Spring produced a decent plant. Now that I've said it out loud, the dang things will probably rot during storage. It's true, it's true. That's what happened with 'Gay Princess' this past Winter. Well, almost true. I shared quite a few with other gardeners, theirs survived and mine didn't.
Throw an old towel or layers of newspaper over the clumps so they don't dry out too much and they will be happily waiting for you Saturday. Should be fine.
Don't let them sit directly on cement- it dries them out something fierce.