3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Are you using your own seed or did you buy seed? If it's your own seed you may not have let the seeds ripen on the plant long enough to be viable. I plant all our seeds in full flats in Miracle Grow potting soil, in the spring. They are watered from the top & have heat on the bottom.
Look at your seed. If it looks somewhat a flattened earwig- dark in color & quite heavy & full then it is ripe & should germinate. You can also try "bouncing" it on the table- if it bounces it'll probably germinate- I know it sounds crazy but an old dahlia grower gave us this hint & we tried it for a few & sure enough- the unripe ones don't bounce!! Needless to say I don't bounce all our seeds- but it was good for a laugh when I told the husband what he had to do with the thousands of seeds he picks every year!
Although I have been growing Dahlias for years I haven't done so seriously I love so many kinds of plants and in the last three years we have moved twice. That is a big set back for gardening
Haven't read much about division and plastic wrapping. I shall take some time to look this subject up further
Thanks all
Bernie: all your research efforts are paying off! Give your wife another bouquet and a hug! I sense Saran momentum gathering here. I was sold after one season and am wondering what on earth I will do with the 4 cubic feet of vermiculite sitting in my garage.
Poochella,
Emporer is a late season bloomer. This year the first bloom was September 22 about 2 weeks later than last year due to the weather. I also have Thomas Edison and it blooms earlier than Emporer. Last year we had an early October frost so I didn't have much time to enjoy Emporer. I was determined to have a better year with it so I planted it in a prime spot so it didn't have to compete for sunlight and gave it a lot of TLC. I think my efforts paid off. It was a very good year for Emporer.
I bring many vases of my dahlias to my store for my customers to enjoy. Their reactions are priceless. The day I brought a large vase with the Emporer dahlias one customer went over and touched them and in a loud, high- pitched voice said, "Oh, they're real!" Boy, was she surprised. She thought they were artificial. That made my day.
Oh my gosh- I checked your member page. You grow a key lime? I just can't picture having such a wonderful fruit in my yard.
You are in that tricky warm zone and there is a lack of hot climate dahlia posters here. We need to rally the troops and beg some of the Southern dahlia growers to offer their input on how best to handle digging there.
Congratulations on finding tubers. I have two cuttings that I'm eager to dig up. Only one bloomed. The other was a sprout leftover int he garden from last year, in my way for a new tuber in May, but I couldn't kill it! So I plunked the broken off sprout into the ground and off it went: no rooting hormone, no potting soil, no nothin'--- it's now 2 ft tall and I can't wait to excavate to see what I find.
Wow!I had no Idea that you could just yank out a shoot and it will grow!My key lime is still Quite smallish because I just got it last year.My grandma uses the lime's leave for cooking and I like to make drinks out of their fruit.Can you grow key lime in where you live?
Willow, I hope you're going somewhere warm and dry for a change of pace. Have a good trip.
Granny, speed is my middle name! (Like a slug slithering along the forest floor here...) We must have been typing simultaneously.
PDX Jules, great observation on the water absorption. I did that digging test one year and was appalled at how little depth a couple gallons of water penetrated around a dahlia. I think I used peat moss back then. Now I avoid it unless digging a brand new bed, and will even use it sparingly there. I like compost as the very best thing for loosening soil and allowing quick absorption of water, mulching etc. I can't, for the life of me figure why Swan Island says "use no compost whatsoever" in their literature. It is my garden savior out here in the rockpile we inhabit. Maybe they have really rich soil in Oregon?
Jroot did/do you teach math, perchance?
I agree, dig every year, or two at the most, and save yourself a lot of grief with gnarly tuber masses. You will have healthier plants (if they were healthy to begin with) and extra tubers to try out on the new dahlia exchange forthcoming.
I wish I would have taken a photo of a clump I'd left in a protected spot under eaves and next to the garage for 5 years. The mother tuber was a foot long and about 3 inches wide with a solid mass of mess surrounding her. If memory serves, I was able to get access to only 5-6 tubers out of 20 or so present. They just get too intermingled to easily harvest.
Hi I also just love to see my dahlia on the kitchen table. I also join the society and went to the show I have got a list of dahlia to buy for next year. I allready have 40 and on my list i have another 20. I think i have a little problem where will i plant them. Too bad there is no field near by. next year problem. Anna
Thanx everybody - I'm paying attention and learning - as I know lots of others will do all winter. Method and classification clarification is truly appreciated, are names and your photos. I will definitely disbud and cut earlier. Keep that bountiful-boofy-bloom info coming!
These are some dahlias that should meet your requirements. I would highly recommend any and all of them.
This is my favorite of all dahlias that I grow and dates back to 1940.
Kidd's Climax
This is a big, beautiful Orange.
Clyde's Choice
The next two are pinks or lavenders. Both are very showy.
Elma Elizabeth
This is a sport of Kidd's Climax introduced by a hybridizer named Almand.
Almand Joy
The following dahlias are two of the most outstanding Reds.
Kenora Wildfire
Zorro
Of course there are many, many other large dahlias that meet your needs but this can give you some idea of what you can expect.
If you don't need to worry about freezing, then you can dig up, separate, and replant. Up in the northern area, we have to dig up and keep up until spring, hence the wintering process inside.....a lot more work than you have to do.
Avoiding vandalism is another question entirely, and not one that I have to worry about here. I would be tempted to build a little artistic fence around it, which would serve two purposes, 1) anti theft deterent 2) something for the dahlia to lean against, and it might actually look rather classy, depending on the fence you choose.
Thanks, Jroot! Glad I don't have to worry about being weird and just moving them. :)
I've been wondering if it's legal to place wires with a mild electrical surge running through it. Probably not, even with a sign that says, "Warning, do not touch, high wattage!" I'll look into that fence.
Bonus! You certainly can pinch the sprouts off. The bonus is that you can see readily where the eye is, and can do your separating now. Sometimes, it is next to impossible to see where the eye is, and one has to wait until spring when one starts them up.
Not all tubers have eyes, and so you can readily see which are the best ones to keep.
Here is a link that might be useful: tubers with an eye
I live in Ks and love to grow dahlias. I usually plant in late April or early May, depending on the weather. I dig after the first frost, which will be soon. If I have time after they're dug,I get the soil ready for next year. Did in plenty of compost and a good sized handful of bone meal. I use large tomato cages to hold them up in our Ks wind, and sometimes have to put in an extra stake at that.
We use the cardboard cartons because they are shallow & when you are starting the tubers you just lay them on their side on the soil then barely cover all but the eye end with soil. The eye end gets left out of the soil- so they're lying there with their heads out & their bottoms under about 1/4- 1/2" of soil. I think the plastic & the coffee cans would be too tall- you could cut the plastic ones down to about 4" though.
Hi
We sure like JEWEL it is to bad you do not send to the U.S.A To exchange we have 300 to pick from.
Hi i cannot send to the U.S.A because of the border if I tryed you would not get because of costoms which I hate. There are alot of dahlia in the U.S.A. I have another name for this dahlia which is show and tell you can go throw the dahlia socity and bye it for 3 dollars. do you have any pictures of your dahlia can I please have the address to go and see them. I love looking at pictures of dahlia. Where have you brought most of your dahlias?