3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
OMG! I am as bad as my husband. I thought they were clematis LOL! I should have known better with that foliage, but the MG only got a cursory glance as I was 100% fixated on that K K K Katie.
Thanks for letting me know Willow, I sheepishly crawl into my corner now.....
"Dinnerplate" is an old term still used by big commercial - usually catalog places that don't know any better- to denote the size of the bloom. It used to be the AA sized blooms-- 10" & above. The term referred to the fact that the plants put out blooms that were large across but really shallow. The AA sized blooms brought out in the last 20 or so years are NOT referred to as dinnerplates as they are almost as deep as they are wide- in fact, when we AA dahlia hybridizers hear that term used by a retailer of dahlias it really sets our teeth on edge as they are most likely selling flat, AA sized dahlias to the poor unsuspecting public who then try to show them & wonder why they don't win in any show! Bah! It also gripes me when catalogs come out saying a dahlia is "exclusive" to that catalog when it's been on the open market for upwards of 15 years! (Whew- glad I got that rant out of my system!)
It really could be one of many but perhaps it's Sierra Glow. I grew it along time ago and it looks very similar. Here's a link, take a look
Good Luck
Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.dahlia.org/cgi-bin/guide/dahlia.cgi?SIERRA+GLOW
A windmill- I never would have guessed! A wonderful sight to behold. Lovely, lovely. And is that an adorable white goat I spot in the background? You have it all as far as I'm concerned. My husband gave me a marine water spinning reel for my birthday. I have fished in saltwater exactly twice in my life. I returned the favor and got him a sporty green wheelbarrow for his- as if he would use it! All's fair in love and war.
What a cheerful array of blooms you have- enjoy them all.
Good advise re seed collection. Personally, I prefer to multiply with the tubers. ...get good strong plants quickly. I actually cut off the flowers so they don't drain the energy to be stored in the tuber. However, for a lot of plants you could try the seed method. But, as the plantlady says, don't expect the seedlings to look like the parent. Cross pollination may create some interesting forms.
Very pretty. Hissy Fitz, an interesting name. Like the Lavender Perfection. Hmmm Gorgeous.
I can't see the last three, though.
All my Beverly F rotted so did many others so I don't know what they would look like.
Thank you for sharing. :-)
Jroot- my garden isn't even near big enough to hold that many blooms let alone my table. How many blooms do you guess, to fill a 360 degree bouquet 3-4 feet x 3-4 feet?
How do you think they anchored them all? A king size block of oasis? Individual volunteers holding individual vases and hiding inside the flowers? LOL
I had alot of cut flowers with heavy rains setting in over the weekend: I heard wind/water in the early a.m. and bolted outside to begin the harvest before the breakage began. Almost too many cut ones to deal with, but I managed.
You could probably leave them in the ground in your zone, but read up on other posts/links about digging and dividing if you want to expand your number of plants.
You could get a stake of some kind and place it a foot away from the base of the plant, firmly into the ground. Then use some pantyhose, tights, T shirt strips or some other flexible tie that won't cut the stalks/stems, to wrap around and keep the plant branches more upright, secured to the stake.
If you cut off the dead flowers where the stems emerged from the plant, it should stimulate more growth and you could get more blooms. Look for new little green growth on either side of the stem you're cutting off and avoid damaging them. Or look for them at the next junction down the stem. They can go on to produce two new flowers, at least. Some dahlias will just fatigue and start to fade away, lose leaves as they shut down for the season. I don't know how they behave in Texas.
Good luck and congratulations on your blooms so far.
dpinker, If you want low maintenace plants, I would stay away from roses. You have to spray roses,trim,spray, mulch. I spend a whole lot more time taking care of my roses here in the north than I do my dahlia's. If you want dahlias, don't dig them up just replant them every year. They are really cheap at Lowes or walmart.
Dahlia's are really low maintance if you don't dig them up.Plant them, stake them, and let them grow!
Dahlias take their own sweet time opening- we've tried just about everything to get immature blooms to open for shows & they never co-operate. Hot water won't speed them up- we even tried a heat lamp one year but the darned thing was just a "Wednesday Bloom" & just wouldn't do it! (A Wed. bloom is all the gorgeous ones that are perfect in the middle of the week when all the shows are, of course on the weekend!)
Jroot- a gift card is like a gift certificate shaped like a credit card to those stores mentioned. when the giver purchases it, you denote the value of the card- all electronic. Very popular as gifts so you don't have to do that personal shopping thing. There was a law passed in WA recently that prevents the stores from taking the gift card money back if the recipient doesn't use it in X amount of time. I shudder when I think of how many $$'s we've wasted letting them expire here.
Keeb, probably earwigs. Dahlia is especially liked by earwigs and is a good enough reason to think twice about trying to take flowers inside for your vases.
If you do, try this approach, hang the flower upside down in a pail of water and watch the earwigs exit.
Its possible you could have a caterpillar in there, but again, the upside down technique can be tried for them too.