3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias

What a wonderful gesture Plantlady. I can only hope to make it to 84 and still be planting dahlias. She must be one tough cookie and for certain, she is lucky to have your for a neighbor.

She's a great friend to have. She also has a huge perennial garden & lawn that she takes care of by herself. One of the great things that makes me smile is that all the time we're there helping her she's working right along side of us & humming- so every time I drive by & see her in her garden I imagine her humming away to herself- just contented as can be with her little house in the big garden!

where can you buy dahlia seeds from i have never heard Dahlia produced seeds. As you can see i am new to Dahlia Forum, i bought one from the home depot.

You can get the Unwins seed dahlias from any seed rack where you buy annuals- they're a short border dahlia - also good for planters. We get our own seed from AA pods on parent plants in the fall, dry them , seperate them & do all the stuff necessary to harvest seeds.
Last count on the new seedling babies for 2005 is 647-- of that there will probably be around 200 worth keeping this year. It's like Christmas in August when all the babies start blooming & they're all brand new ones never been seen before! You can see some of our seedlings in our "Seedlings" album at this site.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wynne's Dahlia Albums

"The best I've ever done with little tuber left to plant was a couple rotters last season I had to dig up. They ended up with about an inch stub of viable tuber and they went on to grow well enough. I can't say they flourished, but they did grow and give me a couple tubers back."

Poochella, I hope this will work for me. The 'Monet' you gave me rotted half way, so I cut off the rotten part, dusted the remaining part with sulfur and replanted it in a pot. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I go up to the attaic almost everyday to check my babies. Next weekend I hope to be able to plant the ones that have a tall sprout in the garden.

I am also greedy. When I disbud the extra shoots, I potted them up. I'll see how I do with rooting Dahlias. Thanks, everyone for suggestions.

Hi Pitimpani, again!
I just had to cut off and dig out rot from two more tubers, but they have eyes so I am not giving up! Once the rot was cut off, I soaked them in 10% bleach, dried them and dusted well in sulfur. I did everything but a full service carwash on those tubers. They are potted up too, and hopefully will go on to grow.

Just finished planting Wednesday- the latest ever! And already some shoots from 10 days ago are popping up. Looks like a cool, wet week ahead. Ick. May always seems to disappoint this NW gardener after some really nice April days. But June is just around the corner and things should look up from there on out.

Good luck with your tubers. Let me know if Monet doesn't work for you.

Oops. I thought I was in the brugmansia forum, as a similar discussion takes place there. That's what happens when one has two windows going at once. Sorry about that.

Okay, to answer your question about dahlias in a pot. I think that you could do this as well with dahlia. It may however stunt the growth somewhat, but probably not significantly ( unless you were planning to show ). The advantage of doing so would be that it would be easier to lift, and then separate the tubers later. Just be sure that you use as large a pot as possible ...2 gallons or more. I had one tuber that was over a foot long last year which was grown in soil in my front garden. I was surprised how big the tubers can actually get.

I haven't tried this with dahlias but perhaps an experiment is in order. I love to experiment. Last year, I grew tomatoes hanging upside down from the bottom of the pot as an experiment, but this year won't do that again, as the produce was down significantly. I had heard that it would work so thought why not, (for the cost of a few seeds).

I think it depends on how wet your summer is. If you have really dry summers this will probably work well as it will help hold in some moisture. If you have wet summers, you might want to leave them above ground so that you can monitor for rot and provide better drainage.

Well! That's what I like to hear! Thanks very much. Their pots are of ample size for now, but once outside, they'll either grow in the ground or larger pots. And yes, they are by a nice bright window - their greenery, after a long cold winter, is lovely in itself.

Anna

Last year I grew several in 3 gallon grow bags (just black plastic bags with a flat bottom and drainage holes.) Some of them flowered before I put them out. I left them in the grow bags sitting out in various places in the yard. Worked very well because I didn't have to dig them up again. Only drawback is that you have to keep an eye on watering them frequently. saw no difference in the number of flowers from the ones planted directly in the ground (dahlias have really shallow roots anyway.)

Beautiful, Poochella, I really like it. In response to your question, no I could only see the X.

I wonder what the picture looked like on the package that Sybilkrizinski purchased. Maybe he/she will respond and let us know if it was like yours Poochella or more like mine (similar to the posting I gave).

I got them from Brent and Beckys Bulbs so there is no picture. I think they are just dark pink. See Ya, Sybil

Sometimes the taller ones esp. if started in pots early will bud up when short. Don't worry about it- we've had Zorro, Simon's Honor & Ivory Palaces put out a top bud at 1-1 1/2' & then go on to grow the usual 4-5' as the season goes on.

Excellent news plantlady -- because now even more have buds at that height - this is my first year and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

JR

They work very well- esp. if you're growing in pots. I think the Colorado Dahlia Society site has a bit about tomato cages on it- they turn them up-side down but when I used them in pots I just stuck them in the normal way & they held the plant up fine. The only problem might be if you have really tall dahlias they might flop over the top.

I have a few tomato cages, bought several as well as those 4' square cages. Last weekend, a neighbor cleaned up his garage and threw out five 4' metal plant stands.... They are sturdy and when turned up side down, they stand just like tomato cages shown on the Colorado Dahlia site, except taller. I just used one for my brand new 'Camano Pet'. I might have to add a taller stake later. I use bricks to anchor the stand for now. I'll have to see if the bricks will be enough.

Do gophers do this to your lawn and gardens? This was early March and there were plenty of mounds inside the garden beds as well.

One year I stood in amazement and watched a 2 ft tall dahlia jig left, then right, back left and right. Thought I was losing the last remnants of my mind! Seconds later, out of the shredded leaf mulch popped a mole!

Thanks poochella for those measurements, that is exactly the information I was needing. I don't have a lawn but yes they do that to my garden. They are devastating. Last year they ate three 50' long rows of perennials in a matter of a few weeks. I built a homemade gopher blaster this year and I expect to be rid of them by the end of summer. Blasting their tunnels and caving them in to rid my garden of the network they have mined throughout the years should help get a handle on the situation. Combined with trapping and wire cages, I may be able to keep a perennial around for more than half a season. Someday I will tell you about the corn stalks they were pulling down in their as I stood there and watched. Dana

They are usually planted horizontally because some can have very long tubers & you don't have to dig as deep a hole to cover them if as you would if planted vertically. Some people plant them vertically & declare the tubers are then in neat rows around the stem - easier for cutting but someone in our dahlia society did an experiment -- some planted one way, some the other & brought them to a meeting in the fall. We couldn't really tell which had been planted which way on most of them. A very few looked like they were in rows but the rest had the usual clump.

Thanks for your input. I think I'll leave the vertical tubers as they are. I've placed another order from Swan Island--these will go directly in the ground, so I'll plant them horizontally. If nothing else, I'll learn something from this!

Poochella, land is plentiful and cheap here--otherwise I couldn't afford this piece of the forest!

Valerie

My guess is deer or rabbits. I have a tough time with these critters.

After 6 years of having started my garden, something was munching on my oriental lillies and hydrangea this spring. I went out at night with a flashlight, only to find three caterpillars. I guess there may be more, but just getting rid of these three seems to have helped the plants a lot. At least they are growing faster than they are being devoured so far.