3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
I often wonder if they put them out so early because they are starting to grow to early. But the lights and the temp. in the store will bring on more growth
quickly.
If it's down to 28 degrees I'd be checking. Sure don't want to loose those tubers. If they freeze they will be history.
Thanks so much.
It got down to about that so I pulled them in for the night but don't want them to start growing in my house in Jan either! I guess it will be just a constant putting them out and pulling them in for a couple of months?
Thanks for the info everyone
when i plant my dahlias i usually put a wooden stake....bout 4ft one alongside the tuber....then as it grows i tie the plant to the stake....but we also have made 4ft cages out of concrete wire....to put around each dahlia....so when they get really big i can control them pretty well within the cages.......for the really tall ones i put up metal green posts up around the plant and tie plant to several sides of the post to help secure from the kansas winds....
Let's get back there and voice our requests for a dahlia exchange forum again. The new owners would do wonders to do something positive for Garden Web, given all the skitters and uproar about the new policies in effect today. I think it would be much easier to trade if we had a separate forum for such.
Here is a link that might be useful: Exchange request page again
I have blamed myself for not amending the soil enuf, etc. etc.
Then a bad year with pocket gophers did in my old reliables.
So I tried 5-gal pots. Limited success.
I'm ready once more, this time armed with wire mesh small enuf to protect from any re-visiting gopher.
Drooling over the online catalogs!! What beauties there are! My garden needs them!
Some dahlias are just better keepers than others. It's all in their genes. The late Earl Huston- he of the Huston dahlia beauties bemoaned the fact that he got a non-keeper dahlia parent mixed in some of his newer stock & they won't keep for love nor money. A lot of the Camano dahlias are this way & Dick & Susan Ambrose are the first to admit it- & always tell the public to grow pot tubers of them to keep them. Some dahlia tubers grow with those skiny little necks that dry out or break off at the drop of a hat so they don't keep worth a darn, either. Of course, it's always the ones you don't like as much that don't keep!
Being my first year with dahlias and all...I'm no expert. Sounds like Poochella knows what she's talking about. I've found that a 'frog' does nicely in holding up blooms to show. I'm talking about those flat round things that have little spikes sticking up to hold the stems. I also use a little bleach in my wash water for vases and bowls for flowers, then they are squeaky clean for the next time - no bacteria. I have a lot of short 15 - 24" bush varieties this year and the flower stems are very short - maybe maximum 4" and often just an inch or 2. I've been using small pretty bowls with a frog to hold 3 or 4 blossoms. They come out looking rather Asian in influence.
poochella has excellent ideas on preparing dahlias for "show" as i call it.....many friends cant stop looking at them....ive been gardening many years....but really got into dahlias bout 5 yrs ago...and love them.....they take up more of my space every year.....good luck..
We use green metal fence posts to tie up in the gardens where we grow dahlias for show. They are tied up about every foot or so. I don't think you'll ever find anything that doesn't show & will hold up the big dahlias well. I know some growers use tomato cages & some use rebar but we've found for the big ones that the fence posts work best- & they're green so sort of look OK. In the big garden for rows of seedlings & seed parents we use Christmas tree twine & string it through holes in crossbars-- see the pictures in our "Seedling" album. The picts. are towards the end around pages 5 - 6 -7 or so.
Here is a link that might be useful: Wynne's Picture Albums
plantlady2....we also like the green metal fence posts for the large tall dahlias.....for the shorter to medium ones we use concrete wire made into large cages...but i also put a stake by them when the tuber is planted.....and tie to it when small.....
Hi Broomhildah, I think in your zone you could have easily had success overwintering tubers in the ground; not just that particular burgandy variety. Freezing and too much moisture are about the biggest enemies of tubers left in the ground.
It will probably be impossible to tell exactly what that particular bloom was but you might get lucky. A starting point would be to identify what form and size your blooms were. Check the link below, it has examples of each dahlia form. From there, you can check lists at www.dahlias.net It has photos by size/shape but there are only a small percentage of all dahlias pictured there. If they were bought in a retail store,they are likely not pictured there, but maybe. Someone here might very well have bought the same package as you and remember the name.
A photo of your bloom posted here would be a good start too.
There are thousands of other dahlias to choose from and I bet you could have equal success starting over anew.
Here is a link that might be useful: Examples of dahlia forms here