3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Poochella, I ran across that article and thought I've found it until I read it and it only mentioned 3 blooms.
I've also gathered that the smaller blooms tend to be more abundant on the plant__correct??
I suppose the ones available at WalMart, Lowes and Home Depot are more likely to be what I'm looking for as garden dahlias. Or at local garden centers. I ordered mine from 2 of the NW growers and guess I didn't do the best, choosing pretty faces and awards they have won.
The Derrill Hart winners are definately show blooms but not exclusively show dahlias. They are grown in trial gardens all over the country & in Canada & are judged numerous times during the season by any & all senior & accredited judges that show up at the gardens. The highest scoring dahlia in it's catagory will win the Hart award. One of the things the judges are looking for is the number of blooms on the plant.
So there you go- if you purchase a Hart winner you'll be getting an exceptional dahlia-- not your regular blue-light special!
Hehehehe,
I wouldn't say hubby is all that devoted, we have been married for 4 years now and just about ironing out the wrinkles,
He may roll his eyes all he wants over trees that needs to be pruned, if he wants me to keep make meat balls and cure salmon for him , this is the trade off...hehehehe, it's all give and take I figure...
-they did dry up for the last week and I took my old painting brushes to them yesterday, apart from having a couple soft and semimushy ( I cut them off and tossed) I did not see any rot, but I left all the small roots and have a hard time determine what the eyes are, very few I think... they are stored in saw dust inside a paperbag inside a old canvas bag, in my closet.
I dunked the whole crown, didn't take anything apart.. is that a mistake?
I am intriuged by the naming of the kenora MACOB b. I have however no idea who Gourdie Leroux is, do care to elaborate plantlady?
Thanks,klk
oh, by the way, I have a new page when I get in to gweb. so far It absolutly SUCKS.
It took me about three days to be able to reenter the site, anybody knows whats going on?
Don't tell me we are all gonna ahve start paying for it...?
sigh..
ds.
Gordie Leroux is one of the world's foremost dahlia hybridizers. Anything with a "Kenora" in front of the name is one of Gordie's. He also has another line but I can't think of the name right now- but the Kenora ones are his most famous.
I also had trouble getting onto this site- it asked me for my user name & password - good thing I wrote the password down as I couldn't remember any of the above!!- User Name didn't even click-- Oh yeah!! Plantlady2!
Diane, just to clarify; every tuber DOES need an eye to have a chance at producing a plant next year. You see the eyes at the time of fall division. (see the multi photo posts on this forum about division or finding eyes) Or you may not see them, but suspect a place on the stem end of the tuber that MAY produce an eye in warmer weather. They may not. There are plenty of tubers that are broken, damaged, or eyeless that get thrown away when cutting up a clump.
Raul had good advice, just try a portion in Saran/plastic wrap and store the others as you have before. See how it goes. You don't need to let them dry out too much, just dry to the touch will do it, that applies to skins and cut edges. The big advantage to plastic wrap is space saving if one has a lot of dahlias, let alone the success rate.
Hope that helps.
Well, I'm so glad you didn't give up and that you posted! Look what you got out of the deal: a beautiful flower and buds! The thing with the 5 o'clock tuber is it isn't connected to the eye on the stalk. I think I can see the eye even from the photo.
The eyes/future dahlia growth will feed off the stored energy in the tuber attached to it until roots develop to feed the plant further. If they're not attached to the tuber as a whole unit, I don't know what to tell you to expect except the eyeless tuber will do nothing, and the eyed stumpy piece from the stem might follow suit. Sometimes, I've had whole plants go on to grow from a little remaining stump of a rotten/rotting tuber. These amazing plants... it seems they know few limits sometimes.
In the interest of experimentation, try to save the part of the stalk where that eye is at 5:00 and see what happens. You won't need much of the stalk at all, just part of the harder brown part where tuber meets stalk. The worst that can happen is you'll have a bit more fodder for your compost pile. More importantly, I would still carefully cut out a bit of the stalk/collar with that smaller "12:00" tuber still attached. See if you can save it, or if it develops an eye by Spring. If all else fails, I think I've got one Otto's Thrill I can send you just to celebrate your success in the face of catastrophe.
Well done, Alyrics! You should change your name to "Lucky"
Poochella you are so nice, thank you for inspiring me! Its a lot different doing it vs reading about it - ha!
I just wanted to ask - would it be better to cut away the stem with the tiny tuber attached or leave the stalk as is - cutting off the top excess? The roots were all at the base of the stem where its knobby looking and I wondered if there might be eyes or maybe future tubers there? I have no idea what I'm talking about do I?
Oh- that other white flower is my favorite tender bulb - Acidanthera - they are from S. Africa and wonderfully fragrant and bloom in August and Sept - altho this year they were still blooming when I took them out Nov 13th. They have a little 1 inch white bulb that you take up and store for the winter and can replant in the spring - more or less like a glad I suppose. I've never even used any bulb dust on them, I just put the bulbs in a paper bag and store for the winter - the major problem being dessication if stored too warm. - See how barbaric I've been up till now? They are also quite cheap so if all fails just replace them - I paid $8.89 for 100 at Costco in the spring. Many other bulb sellers have them also. They perfume the whole area - I can walk on my deck when the evening air is still and you can smell them when you open the door.
Why Jroot, I already HAVE biceps that are amazing. They're called 'turning the compost pile regularly' and 'cleaning the barn with one short pitch fork.' I can't wait to let them wither a bit over winter- they are tired!
A bouncer? I'm way too nice. If someone was out of hand I'd politely say "Be nice!" Of course, I could take that ten foot lead pipe to work to look more authoritative....
I have seen photos of the dahlia imperialis' incredible growth. I've often marveled at the unbelievable growth of your average 4 ft dahlia, but this thing is a monster with a monster growth rate. With any luck I will have something to post next year.
Jroot, my Dahlia freezes down to the ground every winter so it has brand new growth every spring. The stalk on my plant is maybe 1 1/2" wide.
I was in a courtyard garden in Sonoma yesterday and spotted a the biggest Dahlia imperialis I have ever see. Their was multiple woody stalks on this one which were about 4" wide. It was at least 10' - 11' tall, maybe taller. Sonoma does not get the regular hard frost that we do here, so it looks like this one does not get knocked back by the frost. It appears though that it was planted in a spot that has a constant flow of foot traffic right next to it and judging by all of the hacked off old stalks pointing towards the sidewalk, it probably has had tendency to lean over the sidewalk. My guess is that it does not get a chance to bloom. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me, but I need to go out there again next week so I am going to make a point of trying to visit this garden again and get some pics. If I am successful I will post those.
Jamlover- The new seedlings get a surprisingly large clump of tubers. The husband sometimes gets around 10 tubers off of each one. Darn- he's got all the seedlings cut up & in their bins for the winter or I'd take a snap for you- oh well- next year! When we started using heat mats to start the seeds the new babies got a bigger clump of roots than before which led to a bigger bunch of tubers in the fall. Then we put in underground irrigation & the clumps got WAY bigger. They love to get their water directly at the roots.
Willow- thanks- that one is the one most people on the dahlia net commented on, too.
There are several types of wild dahlias, from small ones not bigger than a Sweet William to those towering monsters 9 ft tall. Unfortunately you don´t see them oftenly now growing wild, wild growing dahlias are a memory of my youth when I saw them growing along the road sides and in places where cattle used to roam right here in my grandfather´s ranch and I´m not THAT old. The reason why they like lots of water is because they grow during the rainy season from June to September, that´s when the Altiplano gets most of it´s rainfall. The way you can differentiate a wild one from a cultivated one is by the flower type, wild dahlias are single petal blooms with simple colors and are very easy to propagate by seeds, bees love them because they produce huge ammounts of polen.
Yeah, you don´t need those roots, funny, on all instructional sites about dahlias they always show a clean clump like the one in the second picture, you look at it and the first thing you think is that dividing is a piece of cake, then when you lift your clumps they look anything but the image you had in mind when you dug them up, and there you are, staring at that mass of roots feeling like an idiot not knowing what to do.
Store whole clumps and look for eyes in Spring as Jroot says or, just go ahead and guess at division now. If you think there might be an eye on a decent tuber, save it. I mark those "?Eye?" If it turns out to be a dud in warmer weather, not much was lost but a bit of time cutting it. You also don't waste much time waiting for a dud to sprout (as I do every Spring.)
I did something I hope will work. Like you I have been waiting for the usual frost that hasn't happened. I took all my tubers up last weekend and cut the stalks down to about6" long, bundled them up with like types together in paper bags and bound them. Then I hung them stalk side down - or upside down to cure. We are finally supposed to get some colder weather this week. I read the dahlia society pages and all their recommendations but I know I'm having 15 people for THanksgiving dinner and I have a lot to get done before and it sure looks like if I followed the Society's directions I'd be out there with the turkey digging tubers. I read on the P. Allen Smith website he recommended taking the tubers up and hanging them upside down for 4-5 weeks to cure. So I thought I'd try it. I don't know if I'll let it go 4-5 weeks because then I'll be running into Christmas and I just know me - I won't get it done and it will bug me. Hope this works!
It is so sad to see the ponds around us drying up!! My dahlias are ready to come out of the ground, tho. Frost has hit several times. These were my lst yr. with these dahlias...someone gave me a bunch of tubers and they are all very dark red. Boo hoo... They are impossible to see unless you are within 3 or 4 feet. I live on a busy highway and want COLOR!!! Better luck next year with something else. Enjoy your day; it's 71 here!!!
Hi ginnier,
Alas, a dahlia grower not to far from home. Have you dug yours yet? Mine are all out and the weather is settling in leaving me glad it is finished.
Will you have any tubers to trade? Take a list at my small offering of tubers to exchange if you are interested. Jean
I see in the forum how you grew tree dahlias from cutting's.I had cutting's and they did not work for me. Do you sell tree dahlia tuber's or do know were i can find them.
Hello AptosCA, I live nearby and I'm looking for some tree dahlias--I had a really nice white one, left it behind when I moved from Mt. View to Pacific Grove. Would you have a stalk I can have?
Let me know,
thanks